


don't burn without me

by WriterWrathorn



Category: League of Legends
Genre: A star inside us all, Alternate Universe - Star Guardians (League of Legends), Angst with a Happy Ending, Ezreal is happy, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Implied vomit, Just Friends, Lux is tired, Magic, Near Death Experiences, Neeko is still Lesbian, Neeko still speaks in the third person, Other Star Guardians stalk Ez/Lux, Promises, Slow Burn, Snark, Speech Disorders, Teasing, Violence, Walking In On Someone, accidental date, and angry, but is actually sad, dark vs light, fatigue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23677675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterWrathorn/pseuds/WriterWrathorn
Summary: Star Guardian Lux has been having a hard time at school, and an even harder time on the nightly patrols. Honestly, she just wants to be left alone for a while. Too bad Ezreal can't take a hint, and bugs her into going on a date. Turns out that may have been what she needed all along.But the work of a Star Guardian is never done. Ezreal and Lux will either overcome their challenges, or be torn by them.'Love'... or 'Duty'?
Relationships: Luxanna "Lux" Crownguard/Ezreal
Comments: 21
Kudos: 51





	1. Smooth Smoothie Bar

“Lux?”

Luxanna turned her head to the source of the feminine voice calling out to her. Sarah Fortune was grinning, her sly emerald eyes spoke of mischief. Some of the other star guardians had grouped at their lunch table, the noisy sounds of the cafeteria drowned out while she was in thought.

Syndra wasn’t paying much attention, instead working in her notebook, with Lulu looking past her arm to copy her work. Jinx sat across from her, playing with a piece of jelly on her fork, snickering at whatever Sarah had said, and Ezreal sitting next to Jinx, looking quite flustered, but still had his goofy, stupid smirk plastered on.

Sarah curled an eyebrow, waiting for Lux to answer.

Lux sighed, not at all wanting to hear the question again, “Sure.”

Syndra looked over to her with a surprised expression, giving Lulu time to really read into her notebook. Jinx dropped her fork with a clattering sound, a huge smile on her face, and Sarah was taken aback completely.

And Ezreal was just staring blankly at her.

Lux took a heavy breath, not in the mood for whatever they were making a big deal of.

“I’m not hungry, I’ll see you at class.” Lux got up, taking her backpack and walking away, a scowl on her face.

The nights had been busier lately, the forces of darkness were coming in larger forces every night, and it felt like every time they closed a rift, another opened with the same creatures from the night before, plus a little more.

Lux rounded the corner, finding the fire escape and walking right through, taking the stairs up to the rooftop.

On top of it all, all of her classes decided to set up assignments to be due on the same date. While Lux usually had a good work ethic, it was becoming more difficult to work with her nights being taken up.

She shoved open the rooftop door a little harder than she intended, a loud crash echoed down the stairwell. Lux stood in the middle of the rooftop, staring into the dark clouds above. She looked down, her eyes slightly hooded in disappointment.

Of course it was going to rain.

The rooftop door opened behind her. Lux cursed under her breath.

“Hey, Lux!”

And of course, the blonde dork followed her up here.

“Hello, Ezreal.” Lux returned, a small smile on her face.

“So, uh, about earlier,” He scratched the back of his head, looking away bashfully. Lux rolled her eyes, impatience gnawed at to rush him along so she could get back to being alone.

It had been too long since she had any time to herself. School, night patrols, assignments and study had eaten up all her time, and while she usually didn’t mind being with her friends, she already spent most of her time with them at school and night patrols.

“What about earlier?” Lux tried to keep her voice the same, high pitched up-beat tone as always. It just made her feel tired.

“Well, I was wondering if you, well, if you would want to,” His grin shook into an anxious laugh.

Lux’s eyebrow twitched, doing her best to keep calm. He babbled when he got nervous, and usually it was pretty fun because someone was making him flustered, usually one of the other girls teasing him over something silly.

“Would you want to go hit the Smooth Smoothie Bar this evening?” He tried, giving her his trademark smile, finger guns and a wink.

Wind passed by briefly, the only sound on the rooftop. He didn’t move keeping his stupid pose for a full minute.

Lux’s brittle smile held strong.

Ezreal awkwardly stood up straight, scratching the back of his head.

“I just thought,” He kept his grin plastered on, no amount of shame affecting him, “you seemed pretty bummed out—”

‘ _Please stop talking._ ’ Lux mentally begged.

“—and that you’d need some time to cool off, and, hey, I’m pretty good at having fun—”

‘ _You’re good at slacking off._ ’ She snarked.

“—and you seem like you need it and—”

“Stop!” Lux finally cut off with an exasperated sigh, “Yes, okay, I’ll go with you to the smoothie place, just, stop rambling.”

Ezreal, not picking up on her agitation, smiled brightly, eyes widening in excitement, “Sweet! Okay, I’ll meet you at your place at four!”

He quickly rushed out the door, waved a hand back, his cheers echoed through the stairwell.

Lux sat in the centre of the rooftop floor, curling her legs into her chest, and pressed her forehead against her crossed arms.

“Can today be over now?”

***

Lux stood before her full length body mirror, staring into the blank face of the woman in the reflection. She wore denim overalls that doubled as shorts of the same material, with a long sleeve pink shirt underneath, she’d found a pair of white ankle socks and slipped on her pink and white trainers.

She stared into her blank, pink eyes a while more, completely unthinking and bored. It was the first time today that she hadn’t felt angry or stressed.

Just there.

She trailed her gaze to the corner of the room, the clock reading quarter to four. She sighed, hoping that Ezreal was lazy enough to come late—

_Knock Knock._

Lux closed her eyes and dropped her head down. Making her way down the stairs to the front door. She sighed, put on her friendliest smile, and opened the door.

The blonde was wearing a long sleeve shirt, the sleeves were a cerulean colour, and the main body was a dark blue, with a strip of fabric between the shoulders and body being white, the same as his buttoned up collar. Finishing up with a pair of plain black dress pants.

‘ _At least he dresses up well,_ ’ Lux idly thought.

“Hey there,” He grinned his stupid grin, which Lux returned with the same friendly smile.

“Hello, Ezreal.”

“Ready to go?”

_‘No.’_

“Sure am.” Lux answered, stepping out the door, locking it behind her.

“Let’s go then!” He held out his hand, which Lux took without thinking.

The world spun around her in a golden and cerulean dust, and her feet landed on a different floor. She blinked, standing in a mostly empty car park, a lone road to her left with a dense forest beyond it, and a building to her right. There was a sign just atop the building, with a smoothie cup giving her the thumbs up and a wink, the words ‘Smooth Smoothie Bar’ written next to it in bright, yellow neon lights.

‘Oh, right. Teleporting with not-portal portals.’ Lux suppressed a sigh. Hoping that the travel time would eat into their time spent together, before they had to go on patrol.

“Here we are!” Ezreal said, letting go of her hand and gesturing to her to follow, already making his way to the building.

“Here we are.” Lux groaned, following the energetic blonde.

Ezreal threw the doors open, finding a very quiet arcade room to the left, and a smoothie bar on the right side of the building.

The silence filled the air again, only his stupid grin directed at her.

“Yay?” Lux tried, then cringed slightly at how unmotivated she was.

“C’mon, let's see what there’s to play. My treat!” he gestured for her to follow, heading straight for the arcade machines.

Lux suppressed another sigh, nodding her head with her friendly smile, following along like he wanted.

The first game they’d played was one of the racing games, Chariot Kart, or something. He’d chosen some short, red costumed man with a moustache, mentioning that he was the lead character in the main game series, or something.

Lux just hit the question mark button, letting the game decide what character for her to play, which ended up being some sort of smiling dinosar’s skeleton named Ashes.

Then they got to making their karts. Ezreal took his time, making his kart the way he wanted to. Obviously meaning he’d play this game a lot.

 _‘Is this where you come to when you skip out on patrols?’_ Lux angrily held onto the controls a little harder. She frowned at the options screen in front of her, not exactly caring what kart she got, and hit the question mark button, letting the game decide for her.

They’d played the game for about half an hour, apparently a lot of the tracks took time to complete. Lux wouldn’t admit it, but she did find it a bit fun after the second or third race, managing to beat Ezreal in the final race and taking the golden cup.

“Wanna go get a smoothie and come back for another round?” He asked, that same stupid smirk on his face. It was honestly starting to get on Lux’s nerves.

“Sure.”

They’d made their orders, Ezreal paying for both drinks. He’d gotten something with banana in it, and she’d opted to just get a bunch of random berries blended in with strawberry yoghurt.

They’d sat on the high chairs, staring out the windows and watching the setting sun bleed through the forest. They didn’t have to worry about damaging their eyes when it came to that warm circle in the sky, their roles as Star Guardian’s meant they couldn’t be blinded by a star's light.

 _‘We’ll have to leave in an hour,’_ Lux thought, taking a sip of her, really delicious, smoothie, _‘Hopefully we won’t be out past midnight. I really need to look over the cheat sheet for my music class.’_

“What do you think?” Ezreal asked, leaning forward slightly to get a look at Lux’s face.

“Hmm?” She looked over to him, halfway into taking a sip of her drink.

“This place is pretty neat, right?”

“I suppose,” Lux slowly admitted, her eye twitched in irritation, “but I have a question.”

“Yeah?”

“How often do you come here?”

“Oh, well, all the time!”

Lux looked away, a deadpan expression on her features, “Figured as much.”

Ezreal leaned back, a bit of surprise breaking that stupid smirk of his, “That a bad thing?”

Lux flicked her arm down, the base of her smoothie thunked against the marble countertop, and twisted around the chair to face the blonde boy, only two feet between them. Ezreal flinched, quietly putting his own cup down.

“Something I said?” He tried to bring back his smile, only making Lux’s frown deepen.

“How often have you come here when you were supposed to be on patrol?” She asked, her voice low and dangerous, hands settled on her hips.

“Well, I mean, I don’t keep track of the nights—” He scratched the back of his head, looking off in the corner of his eyes.

“What, did you think I’d stay here with you tonight, messing around and shirking our duties?” Lux pressed.

“‘Course not, I just thought that you needed time off.” His brow furrowed, probably confused at why Lux was so angry. Which only served to make Lux more angry.

“And on that subject, why’d you decide for today to be a good day to ask me out, huh?” Lux took a step forward, prompting him to stop looking off to the side and into her angry, pink eyes, “Not everyone can be carefree like you, just picking out days to distract us.”

“Hang on, you agreed to come out,” Ezreal defended, standing up, “and I’m not the most disruptive member of the group.”

“True,” Lux admitted, the image of Jinx laughing with a mouthful of curry flashed in her mind, only making her angrier. She glared back at Ezreal, “you’re the second most disruptive member.”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean—”

Lux cut him off by taking another step, effectively in his space and barely any distance between their faces.

“It does mean something! We can’t all just shirk our duties and pretend everything is fine. You always bug us when we’re stressed, just because you are bored. Just because you don’t have to pull all nighters just to pass a class, or—”

“Get out of my face, Luxanna Crownguard.” Ezreal growled, glaring into her pink eyes. Lux’s heart jumped into her throat and took a step back. He’d never, ever used her full name before, let alone twist his face into the expression it was now.

“I—!” Lux tried, and paused as Ezreal held up his hand, he relaxed, taking a deep breath, and sighed.

“I’m sorry for speaking to you like that, Lux.” He looked up with regretful eyes, completely blowing away all of Lux’s irritation. They stood in silence for a moment, and it finally clicked in the pink haired girl's head with what he was waiting for.

“No, I shouldn’t have started yelling at you,” Lux apologised, her shoulders falling down, “I’ve just been so, so angry and stressed lately. School has been getting harder, and our nightly patrols have been lasting longer into the night, and I just—”

“I get it, I really do. It’s been the same for me,” Ezreal shook his head, “maybe I was slacking off at the start of the semester, but Ahri has really been kicking my ass into gear about all this.”

“I haven’t seen you out though.” Lux said, confusion and guilt welling up inside her.

“I usually get sent out to emergency areas, handling situations by myself around the world, y’know, with the not-portal portals.”

Lux cringed. Of course that was the reason he’d not been around at night lately. How tired had she been to forget that he was the first-contact responder to their world-wide struggle?

“It’s okay, Lux, really. You didn’t know because you didn’t need to, you already have a lot on your plate.” Ezreal justified for her, and she nodded, sitting back down on the high chair. They sat in silence again. Lux finished her drink some time ago, bought with Ezreal’s money. Including the game they’d played together earlier.

She’d been a big jerk. She turned to apologize, but was interrupted by a question of her own.

“Where would we be with all that irritation and stress gathering up the next night, or the night after that?”

Lux opened her mouth, then closed it. She shrugged her shoulders, keeping her eyes fixed to the marble counter.

“We’d probably be closer to dead, if we took that stress with us everywhere,” He answered, taking one last sip of his smoothie, making that weird gurgle noise.

“That’s why I wanted to relax,” Lux softly whispered, “just keep space between everyone for one day, get home after patrol and just sleep over the weekend.”

“And that’s fair, I completely understand that,” Ezreal gave her a small smile, “But you’ve become withdrawn lately. You won’t open up to how you really feel, or won’t answer honestly. Not even to Jinx, and you’re not talking with us properly.”

“No, I haven’t been hiding how I feel. I’m fine.”

“Really? What did Sarah ask you at lunch today?”

Lux did a double take, “What?”

“What did Sarah ask you at lunch today?” He repeated, sitting back on the high chair, drinking his banana smoothie.

“She—” Lux paused, blinking and looking down to the floor, her brows furrowed in thought. What had she and Miss Fortune been talking about today, in fact, they hadn’t really talked for very long at all. Sarah said something to her at school, so maybe it had to do with that.

“She was talking about school stuff.” Lux answered.

Ezreal shook his head, giving her a forced smile and a dry laugh. Lux internally cringed, not remembering at all.

She sighed bitterly, “What then?”

“She asked if you thought you’d go on a date with me.” Ezreal quietly answered, turning away from her and drinking the last of his smoothie, the cup making loud empty noises.

Lux felt frozen, her feet felt numb hanging in the air, and her heat skipping several beats. She hadn’t paid attention to what Sarah had said at all, and accidentally said yes. How else was that supposed to come across in the moment? Her answering quickly, then running off? No wonder Ezreal decided it was a good time to try and ask her out.

She held her shoulder with one arm, shame and guilt piling up inside her gut like a well of regret.

Ezreal shook his head, putting on that same, stupid smile on his face. Never failing to catch her attention.

“Y’know,” Ezreal started slowly, prompting Lux to eye him curiously, “we should get outta here. The last thing you need is more excitement. There’s a pretty good spot nearby that I think you’d like.”

Lux looked over to the doors, she did want to leave. But she felt bad for accidentally leading Ezreal on. Still, he did offer to take her elsewhere, not just leave her entirely.

She nodded, following him out the door.

***

Turns out they didn’t have to go very far.

Lux watched as Ezreal took a seat, hanging his legs over the side of the smoothie bar’s rooftop. He leaned back, using the palms of his hands to support himself, and looked over his shoulder, grinning widely at her.

Lux smiled softly, following along and taking a seat next to him, a foot of space between them. She held her hands on her thighs, knocking her shoes against one another over and over. They sat there, watching the sun set over the horizon, darkness slowly eating up the world.

“Why’d you think I would like this spot?” Lux asked, watching the occasional car driving past, noting their colour, finding more black cars than any other.

“Well, it’s autumn, and it’s close to half-past-five, so,” He trailed off, looking back up to the last rays of sunshine. The illuminated city in front of it lost to darkness.

Then the lights started turning on.

First it was the yellow street lights, then each individual house flickered with white light through their windows, colourful red lights of cars leaving glowed in the distance and she could see apartment windows lighting up one after the other. A menagerie of colour and light filling the darkness with beauty.

Lux blinked, closing her mouth to a thin line upon realizing it had dropped. She set her fingers on the edge of the building, watching with wide, wondering eyes.

“That’s what we do.” Ezreal leaned over to her slightly, his trademark smirk on display. Lux stared at him, unable to show the emotion she was properly feeling, and just looked into those cerulean irises.

“What do you mean?” She asked slowly, her fingers tightening against the building.

“The darkness comes, and we come to light the world up. Burning as bright as we can. But we can burn ourselves out if we don’t take the time to relax, so we turn off our light during the day,” Ezreal leaned back looking up into the sky, searching the night for the stars, “just don’t forget about the others who burn with you—”

“We all reach for the same horizon.” Lux finished, feeling the heat in her ears as she unintentionally spoke her mind. She kept her expression neutral, still not feeling up to, well, feeling.

There was something there, in her heart, telling her how she could, or should, feel. But she just couldn’t.

“Hey,” Ezreal softly spoke, breaking her train of thought, he kept up that dumb smile, “it’s okay, y’know?”

“What?” Lux tilted her head.

“To cry.” He brought his hand up, fingers gently uncurling. His index finger ghosting up her cheek, and pulled back.

There was a droplet of water on his digit. Lux tilted her head slightly, and brought her own hand up to touch her cheeks. She closed her eyes, the feeling in her heart intensified as she trailed the rivers staining her face.

Her lip trembled, and she turned away from Ezreal.

“It’s been really hard for you, I know,” He started, laying back against the ceiling. Lux looked back over, finding his arms tucked under his head, staring up into the starry sky above, “Leading your own group takes guts, and it’ll take more from you than it’ll give. I mean, I wouldn't know the first thing about it. But I’ve learned a lot from Ahri.”

Lux coughed into her hand, a tickle in the back of her throat was pervasive, making her feel like she was going to choke on her own words. She stared forward at the city, watching cars stop and go with blinking red lights.

“Like?” She asked in a small voice, barely loud enough for Ezreal to hear.

“Ahri cries every time we come back from a patrol,” He answered. Lux spun around, facing the golden haired boy, a thoughtful frown on his face, “and every time she’d go straight to Soraka, and clings to her and won’t let go. Like a baby with a teddy bear.”

“And you learned something from that?” She asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, ‘course. The moment we step through the doors, she drops the outfit and beelines it for Soraka. Cries right in front of Syndra, Sarah and I.” He finished like that was it, like the lesson was so obvious.

Lux sighed, unbothered to look through the subtext, “And you learned?”

“When you come back from patrol, you’re supposed to take off the outfit,” He looked up, his kind eyes piercing hers, “You never took yours off after your first patrol.”

Lux felt a shiver run through her body, and looked away, frowning. Her fingers were strained and turning white, with how hard she gripped the edge of the roof. More of the city’s lights were illuminated as time passed on. She sat there, eyebrows curled in thought.

She really didn’t know what to say. Had Ezreal always been this mature?

 _‘No,’_ she shook her head, _‘he’s never mature. Sometimes he’s just right.’_

His words struck a chord within her. Her heart was begging for something, and she just couldn’t tell what it was. She’d cried, wasn’t that supposed to be it? You cry, feel a bit numb, and then you’re all better again?

Lux winced, nearly breaking her fingers from how hard she’d been gripping the wall. She brought her hands up to rest on her thighs, the tingling sensation the only thing she could really feel.

Was this it? Would she ever be able to take off the costume?

“I don’t know if I ever could.”

“Then I’ll help you.” Ezreal said.

Lux jumped, not realizing she’d spoken out loud again.

“How?” Lux asked, “We go out there every night, and fight for people that don’t even know what we’re fighting. I can’t let go of what I become each and every night. Because there’s only the next fight, so how?” Lux pressed, turning around entirely to meet Ezreal’s soft, dumb smile.

“We’ll transform.” He answered, standing up with a stretch. As though it were the simplest thing in the world.

“Pardon?” Lux stood up, meeting his happy smile once again.

“We’ll transform, and then we’ll take off the outfits for real.” He explained, as though it was the easiest thing in the world. Yuuto, Ezreal’s familiar, leapt out from his back, making happy squeals as he flew around the blonde, blue light taking his form.

Lux instinctively summoned her stave, letting it twirl around her faster and faster, pink light covering her body.

Their clothes were transformed into their Star Guardian outfits, and they both performed their dramatic poses as they were fully transformed. She smiled brightly at Ezreal, who returned it. He took a step forward, nodding at her.

“Now,” He spoke gently, slowly falling to the floor, his wings fading away into blue light, “There’s no threat. We’re okay. So we can take off the outfit. For real.”

Lux nodded, letting her star guardian form fade back simultaneously with Ezreal’s. Light shimmered off them, the heat of their magic slowly fading away. She could feel her casual clothes return to press against her skin, and the wind brush against her skin.

Lux blinked out more tears, a shocked gasp left her. Then, she felt it. That feeling in her heart that yearned to be free. It wasn’t sadness or pain in her heart. She wasn’t broken, or was holding back her emotions for the sake of her team.

What she felt was liberation.

Her knees shook and she fell forward, caught in Ezreal’s arms, and she cried loudly into his chest.

Ezreal clearly didn’t know what to do, simply holding her awkwardly looking away. But, really, that’s all Lux needed at the moment. Someone for her to hold on to. To hide her face as she bawled her eyes out.

She understood why Ahri, supposedly, latched onto Soraka like she was a teddy bear. It felt nice to be held when she was crying. It felt far better than when she was by herself.

She felt far better in his arms.

“I’ll—” Ezreal sighed, returning the hug properly with a small squeeze, “I’ll always be here for you, when you need to take off the costume.”

Lux laughed, nodding her head into his chest some more.

The night would go on without them. The other star guardians were surely on patrol already.

***

“So, you all saw that right?” Sarah asked, her eyes wide at the sight. She wasn’t alone. Syndra, Lulu and Jinx had followed her after finding out Ezreal managed to score a date with their resident pink-haired girl.

“Mmhmm.” Syndra nodded, still reading through one of her theatre scripts, sipping away at a smoothie.

“Sure did. That was super cute!” Lulu squeed in her hands, “You think they’ll kiss?”

“Nah. This seems like a start-up to their relationship.” Sarah dismissed, taking her own slurp of a smoothie. She initially criticized Ezreal’s choice at an Arcade/Smoothie bar, but she’d admit that they served a damn good drink.

“What do you think, Jinx?” Sarah turned over to Jinx, her shoulders shaking.

“Uh, don’t tell me you’re angry, right?” Fortune leaned forward, getting a good look at Jinx’s face. She did a double take, staring at Jinx’s rivers of tears spilling out her eyes, and grimaced at the wet trail from her nose.

“Th—That was so cute, I— I want them to kiss, and then hug and,” Jinx gasped excitedly, “ohh, I hope they hold hands!”

Sarah gave the other redhead a shaky smile, “Y-Yeah. Same here, girl.”

They sat there together for a while longer, watching the cute couple above. Hoping they didn’t suddenly decide to look down.


	2. the new/old girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neeko joins the Star Guardians!
> 
> Ahri has a word with Lux.
> 
> Ezreal can't catch a break from Jinx.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings, after a few neato comments, I decided to turn this into a series.
> 
> Unfortunately, I'll be prioritizing what my Patron's would like me to update/write in the future.
> 
> So, unless the polls fall in favor for this story, I'll be updating it very infrequently.
> 
> But please! Enjoy!

“Lux-ee, time to wake up-see.” A small voice called out to her. Lux grumbled, huffing in her sleep. She really didn’t want to be woken up yet. The excitement of last night had stemmed the tide of nightmares, ones that had come more frequently as the nights passed on. Ezreal’s warm arms held her for a whole hour last night, before they had to depart.

It was wonderful.

But it was just as friends. There wasn’t anything more to it, at least, not how he was handling it. There were plenty of moment’s he could have said he liked her. Not that she was entirely sure about how she felt with him, or anything. She certainly wouldn’t be able to tell him.

Not that she felt anything!

Lux groaned, the insistent calling of her name, had now turned into her body being shaken side to side. The small hands on her shoulder tipping her off on who it was. She’d fallen asleep on her side, apparently. Lux groaned awake, her eyes heavy, mouth awfully dry and the arm she slept on was numb.

“Good morning lux!” Lulu brightly greeted, with big blue eyes and big happy smile, “It’s Saturday, you know what that means!”

Lux, however, didn’t actually hear a word of what Lulu said, and just nodded along, slowly sitting up, bringing the blanket up with her. Lulu kept talking, but all Lux wanted to do was go back to sleep and dream about pizza land and that dumb smirk.

The pinkette’s stomach grumbled, and Lux frowned, staring at Lulu waving her arms around, talking about something.

Lux didn’t really care.

“Lulu.” Lux said tersely, staring at the shorter girl with deadpan eyes. The green haired girl in question stopped on the spot, in the middle of a dramatic pose.

“I need to get dressed.” Lux said in a small voice, lowering the blanket slightly to reveal the skin of her shoulders were bare.

“Oh, right, sorry Lux!” Lulu dawdled out of the room, flicking the light on and closing the door.

Lux sighed, giving the lightbulb an hateful stare, wishing it’d turn off and she’d go back to sleep. Dream about pizza, smoothies and that dumb smile. With his oddly spiky hair, with a blue underside and a blonde topside. Lux wondered if he got up at this time of the morning too.

Probably not, he was way too lazy for that. Still, it’d be nice if he thought about her in bed—

Lux’s breath choked as the thought passed her head. She lightly tapped her red cheeks, as if patting away the fire, her ears a deep shade of red. She scurried out from the under covers, quickly making her way to the wardrobe, sorting out her outfit for the day.

Lux was halfway through getting dressed, only just getting her pink skirt on, the hemline hanging loosely above her knees. She’d pulled out a bra, sorting it out through either arm and—

There was a knock on the door. Probably, one of the other guardians. They’d seen her without a shirt on before, which wasn't a big deal.

“Come in.” Lux called out, clipping the bra on.

“Hey, Lux, you gettin- oh.” Ezreal’s voice dropped, as did his eyes.

Ezreal was standing in the doorway. The doorway to her room.

The boy she definitely did not like was in her room, with her half dressed.

Lux’s jaw dropped, her ears turning red. Ezreal mimicked her expression, his eyes still staring below her face, laser focused on her (thankfully) covered chest. Lux stared at her goofball, the heat in her neck growing further. She was unable to speak a single word, let alone make a peep of indignation. A well of emotions sparked up in her as she stared into his cerulean eyes.

Comfort. Happiness. Shock. Embarrassment.

Lots of embarrassment.

Ezreal managed to make eye contact with her, and nodded slowly. He turned around, and closed the door softly behind him.

“Saturday,” Lux whispered, the meaning of the day clicking in her brain, and no doubt what Lulu was talking about, “team meeting day with Ahri’s team.”

Lux’s head thunked against the wardrobe door. If a voidling found her, she’d welcome it’s stabby bits with a hug.

***

Lux slowly walked down the stairs, fixing the long sleeves of her plain white, loose fitting shirt. She looked over the railing, finding Ahri and Janna talking between themselves, two cups of tea on the coffee table in front of them on the couch they sat on.

Lux rounded the railing, finding a smirking Jinx in a black, long sleeve shirt and crimson baggy pants, looking right at the pinkette. Ezreal, in a plain blue shirt and jeans, had his face covered with both hands, the visible skin on his face as pink as her skirt.

Lux approached the pair, glaring at Jinx, who returned it with a wider smirk.

“So, Ezreal, wanna say something to Lux?” Jinx snickered, elbowing Ezreal in the side.

Ezreal stood straight, eyes slapped onto the sides of his thighs.

“Lux, I’m—”

Lux held up a hand, “I know. Just wait a moment.”

“Um?”

Lux gave Ezreal a soft smile, then turned her head toward Jinx, that smile slowly turning into a big frown, eyes screaming disappointment.

“Jinx…” Lux started, taking a heavy breath.

Jinx grinned like she’d just won the biggest prize at a carnival. Lux knew all her best friend wanted was to stir some drama, no doubt already sensing that Ezreal was probably interested in the team leader. Though Jinx wasn’t the kind of person to scare someone off, so her goal was only to tease Ezreal a bit, and teasing Lux as a result was probably just icing on the cake for her.

But as a leader, Lux couldn’t let this go unpunished.

“Yeees?” Jinx grinned with closed eyes.

“Did you know, Ezreal,” Lux started sweetly, making Jinx drop her grin for a concerned look, and Ezreal perked up curiously, “that Jinx can’t go to sleep without her metre long teddy bear.”

Ezreal covered his mouth, “Pfft!”

Jinx’s smile dropped and she paled instantly, which she tried to cover with a nervous laugh, looking at Ezreal and shaking her hands dismissively.

“What? Nooo. No I don’t,” She laughed it off, crossing her arms, “But what about how, earlier, Ezreal walked in on—”

“Oh, really?” Lux interrupted, her smile turned devious, “Should I mention you taped a picture of our classmate—”

Jinx surged forward, covering Lux’s mouth, Ezreal’s laughter couldn’t be stopped, shaking his head and looking away.

“No! Definitely not,” Jinx panicked, looking between the pinkette and the blonde, “And I also don’t sleep with—”

Lux slipped out from Jinx’s hand, “Ekko!”

Ezreal doubled over, slapping his hand on the kitchen counter, his uncontained laughter for the world to hear. Lux giggled too, all at Jinx’s own expense. The redhead was aghast, jaw dropped at the turnaround of embarrassment, landing squarely on her.

 _‘Don’t think this is the last of your payback.’_ Lux grinned.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Poppy said, coming through the sliding door, Syndra and Sarah following through, to then step past the shorter girl, “But it’s time for the meeting.”

Lux nodded, both Jinx and Ezreal calmed themselves, only with Ezreal giving Jinx a victorious smirk, which Jinx returned with a pouting glare.

“Where are Soraka and Lulu?” Lux asked the shorter girl. Poppy opened her mouth to answer, then a thoughtful look passed her eyes.

Poppy gave Lux a sly smile and shrugged, making her way to the living room, “Wake up earlier next time, instead of showing off for the blonde, and I’ll answer anything you want.”

Lux pouted, pink dusting her ears as she heard Jinx’s own snickering, which turned to a startled squeak as Jinx’s lithe hand swatted her behind.

“That was for telling.” Jinx faux-growled, her smile wide and toothy. Jumping over the couch to land coolly on the sofa, arms held behind her head as Janna jumped and held a hand on her chest, chastising Jinx for her untoward behaviour.

“C’mon, let's get to it,” Ezreal gave her that stupid grin.

Lux returned it with a smile, trying to ignore her growling stomach.

They all took their seats on three large couches, two pots of tea were set out on the coffee table, and empty cups placed all around for each guardian. Except for Jinx, who never touched the stuff anyway.

“Thank you for getting up at this time, everyone,” Ahri started, taking a long sip from her tea, “I understand that school work has become more taxing on you all, and recognize that. However.”

Ahri sighed, looking at more than half of the people present pointedly, namely Syndra, Sarah, Jinx, Lulu, Ezreal and then Lux herself. All of which straightened up with cringing expressions.

Lux had no idea what the other four had done last night, but that was six members not turning up for patrol. Lux’s heart sank at the thought, not looking forward to the news of how many lives the void could’ve taken without their protection.

“I’ll ask all of you to attend your patrols more diligently in the future. The fate of other people’s lives are more important than your homework,” Ahri calmly placed her teacup on its platter, and rested her hands on her thighs, “If this happens again, I will ask what you were doing that was more important than your duties as Star Guardians, in front of the others. Am I understood?”

Everyone quietly mumbled out their affirmation, most of them saying _‘yes Ahri’_ , while Jinx just grunted.

“Thank you,” Ahri smiled warmly, which then gave a small sigh, her thoughtful eyes betraying that smile, “The good news is, only one portal was opened last night, only four people came through.”

Lux sighed a breath of relief, thankful that the one time they made a mistake, it was relatively unpunished.

 _‘It won’t always be like that.’_ She told herself. Her brow furrowed, processing the other half of Ahri’s statement.

“People?” Syndra perked up, asking before the others had a chance.

“Well,” Ahri sighed, the light in her eyes dimmed as pain cracked her calm demeanour, “Some old friends were the ones to pass through.”

Silence filled the room.

“Who?” Sarah asked, her eyes wide, and her fingers dug into her white skirt. Lux bit her lip, she knew that Ahri had old teammates, that she hardly spoke of, thanks to Ezreal. But his knowledge was based on what Soraka told him, and even the horned woman didn’t know all that much of Ahri’s past. The only one that could was Sarah, but she was more reclusive about that topic than Ahri was, according to Ezreal.

“Rakan and Xayah,” Ahri sighed, her smile falling down with her eyes, “Both darkened, as I knew already.”

Lux didn’t know who those two were, but by the looks on Sarah’s face, wide and concerned, they were no doubt members of Ahri’s old team. But, Lux didn’t understand what she meant by _‘darkened’_. From the look of the other’s faces, excluding Sarah’s and Syndra’s, they didn’t know either.

“And the other two? Were they—”

“Neeko was one of them.” Everyone looked over to the stairwell, where the strange voice had come from. A younger woman with scarlet red hair, which turned orange to green the further down it went. She wore a baggy, green shirt that was obviously too big for her, and one of Soraka’s, ankle long, skirts. A large, pink tail had pulled the back of the skirt up slightly, the extra appendage covered in large, yellow stars.

“Everyone,” Ahri stood, a wide happy smile on her face, “Meet my old teammate, Neeko.”

Neeko waved shyly, hiding her other hand behind her back. Soraka and Lulu followed her down, where Lux assumed that they were helping heal the new girl from, well, whatever fight she was involved in last night.

 _‘When Ezreal and I were out,’_ Lux winced at her accusing thoughts, looking away a moment. _‘We could’ve helped if we weren't messing around at a smoothie bar.’_

The other guardians, including Ezreal, got up to greet the new girl, giving their names asking questions. Neeko looked absolutely lost, her strange irises flicking about wildly. Soon enough, Soraka and Syndra had the others calm down letting the lizard girl find her own seat in the living room. Lux made to greet the new, or rather, old member, but a hand on her wrist had her pause.

Ahri had an unreadable expression on her face, “I need to talk to you.”

Lux gulped.

***

Ahri closed the sliding door to the backyard behind her. Lux had already stepped out, nervous for what Ahri had to say. No doubt it had to do with her missing a patrol.

Lux planted her bare feet in the cut grass of the lawn, she’d probably needed to thank Poppy for that, the only responsible one to actually do the yardwork when required.

“I’ll excuse the others for not coming on patrol last night, but only for this one time.” Ahri started, Lux nodding along as she turned to face the kitsune. She watched ahri tapped on the glass door, a slight shimmer of faded pink glossing over the surface. As soon as it spread to all corners, she could no longer hear the others inside, and she assumed they couldn’t hear both the team leaders talking in turn.

“But,” Ahri continued, “as a team leader, you need to set an example.”

“I know,” Lux nodded slowly, not able to come up with a reasonable argument, the stupid smile of the boy just one room away flickered in her mind, “I shouldn’t have let Ezreal talk me into it.”

Ahri’s eyebrow rose, a sharp breath exhaled through her nose, “Ezreal talked you into what?”

The implication of Ahri’s tone made Lux’s ears light up a deep crimson, “Nothing like that! We just, well,” Lux poked her fingers together, looking off to the grass. It was really well cut! Really had to thank Poppy for that.

“We just went out to a smoothie place.” She said, voice growing quieter with every syllable.

“He talked you into a _‘smoothie place’_ ,” Ahri deadpanned, nodding slowly and pinched the bridge of her nose, “alright, I’ll bite, why would he do that? And why did you agree?”

Lux opened her mouth. Then closed it. Then did her best impression of a goldfish as she repeated those two actions for about ten seconds.

“I— I don’t know.” Lux brought her hand up to her shoulder, looking back through the window to see her dork of a teammate waving his hands around excitedly, speaking to a wide eyed and smiling Neeko.

Lux smiled a little herself, unable to look away. He was a dork, through and through. Always doing his best to cheer others up, make them feel comfortable. Even now, she could see Neeko’s posture slacken just a tad, growing more placid as Ezreal yammered on and on. She could watch him be a dork every day, all the time.

“Luxanna.”

Unless her name was spoken like a disappointed mother.

Lux flinched, looking back into the tall kitsune’s judging eyes. Her arms dropped down to the side, a small frown on her face.

“I don’t want you to fall in love with Ezreal.”

Lux’s heart plummeted into her gut, her eyes wide in shock and her mouth hung open.

“Who said anything about—”

You can be friends with him,” Ahri interrupted, “you can do whatever you want, if that’s the case” the kitsune leaned forward, “But do not, under any circumstance, let him fall in love with you, or the other way around.”

Lux grit her teeth, her eyes hardened, and curled her hands on the side of her hips, her arms shaking as she stared back into those cold, violet eyes.

“Why?” Lux growled lowly. She didn’t feel that way for him, he was just a good friend, but having the possibility of them being something more than friends, just being thrown away because Ahri said so, had her heart turn icy cold.

“There’s a reason why most Star Guardian’s are women,” Ahri started calmly, eyes downcast to the floor. Lux took a heavy breath, trying her best to reign in the fire in her heart, “it’s because the First Star knows most people are straight.”

Lux blinked and her shoulders dropped, a slight tilt of her head as she looked at the kitsune disbelievingly. What did straightness have to do with anything?!

“Eh?” Was the only thing that fell out of her hung mouth. Which accurately summarized all her feelings at once, coincidentally.

“Listen, Lux,” Ahri frowned, gesturing weirdly with her hands, clearly an uncomfortable topic for her, “there are a few exceptions, of course, some Star Guardian’s will be attracted to other women. But the First Star tries to keep its chosen few the same sex, so that we may form frienships without the awkwardness of having a male teammate. But it shouldn't be anything more than that. So when there’s a male guardian, and they fall in love with a teammate, instead of just remaining a friend, what risks do you think that poses?”

Lux sighed and crossed her arms. She already knew the answer, but refused to give in to Ahri’s logic. The kitsune shook her head softly.

“Falling in love is a strong bond, Lux. It hurts more when it’s broken,” Ahri held up a closed fist, and rose a finger, “If one dies, the other will either follow, or snap mentally,” she held up both fingers, “If one falls, the other falls too, who will die from the first one, because they’ll be unable to fulfill their duty,” another finger, “If the team is in danger, one of the lovers will always choose the other over the team, posing a danger to the team,” another finger—

“Stop!” Lux held up her hand and took a deep breath, “I get it, I get it.”

“Then you understand.”

Lux bit her lip, looking back at her blonde dork.

_‘I don’t want to.’_

“...Yes.” Lux reluctantly lied, but knew to take Ahri’s advice to heart. Much as it hurt her to agree.

“I’m sorry to do this to you. But I’ve seen it before. I can’t have it happen again.” Ahri’s closed her eyes, “it’s for everyone’s safety. More so because you were chosen as a leader.”

Lux nodded slowly, looking away from Ezreal.

“Okay.”

“Good. Thank you.” Ahri nodded, taking the door handle in her hand.

“Wait,” Lux rushed out, closing the door before it could be opened, “You didn’t say who the other was.”

“Hmm?” Ahri turned her head, confusion in her eyes.

“There were four people. Rakan, Xayah, Neeko and someone else. Who are they?”

Ahri looked back toward the glass door, her eyes falling straight onto Neeko. Lux could see the kitsune’s eyes soften, and her lip trembled for a second, before she growled angrily at her own reflection.

“Her name was Zoe,” Ahir scoffed, disgust layering her voice, her closed fists shaking slightly, “What she is now, I don’t know. She was the first to fall, and I don’t believe there’s any way to save her.”

“Did she make the other two fall as well?” Lux asked softly.

Ahri shook her head, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore, Lux, just take my advice,” she opened the door, and took one step in.

“Can we save them?” Lux pressed, watching Ahri pause once more. The kitsune turned to face Lux, her eyes hardened, a small frown on her lips.

“I don’t care anymore,” Ahri tapped the door and let her magic wisp away into the air, “Just keep it simple with my teammate.”

Lux stayed outside, the sunlight shining on her back, and the wind blowing her hair softly. She watched her blonde dork a while more, that stupid grin on his face as Neeko began talking too.

She turned around, looking up to the sky. She didn’t feel so hungry anymore.

***

Ezreal watched Ahri enter, only catching glimpses of the team leader's conversation. Whatever Ahri had said to Lux, really peeved the pinkette off. Her face turned to a glower, and her breathing steadily increased. Then Ahri spoke again, and that bright anger faded away.

Her face turned to shock. Which then turned to sorrow.

He wondered if she needed him now, maybe just to talk to. She had been sadder lately, and he thought he’d helped last night. But sadness wasn’t something that was fixed overnight. There were, after all, two things wrong with that thought process.

First, sadness wasn’t a bad thing. It just sucked to feel, and it would keep coming back in waves, some waves bigger than others. Sometimes all you needed was someone to hold onto as the waves receded.

Second, you can never fix people.

“Ezreal?” The blonde boy in question was broken from his thoughts, some poorer memories coming back to bite him. He turned back to Neeko, who had said his name in that strange accent, like she was still learning how to speak like them. Which may have been the case, all things considered, she had certain parts that made her very non-human. Which was common amongst the Star Guardians.

He smiled and hummed, looking into Neeko’s strange eyes.

“You have fascinating stories with your teammates, but you are the only boy here, yes?” Neeko spoke with a strange lilt to her words, like she was still learning how to speak.

“I am,” Ezreal grinned, pointing a thumb at his face, “pretty cool, right? First Star picking out a guy. Pretty rare, huh?”

Neeko hummed, “I think so. Yes. Neeko only knew one other.”

Everyone, excluding Sarah, leaned in slightly.

“You knew another boy Star Guardian?” Ezreal asked, eyes lighting up in excitement and curiosity, “Where are they now?”

“Oh,” Neeko looked away, a trembling sigh left her lips, “Neeko would like to not talk about it.”

“But it sounded like—”

“Ezreal,” Sarah butted in, her mouth thinned and her eyes dangerous, “Drop it. Now.”

Ezreal closed his mouth and leaned back into the soft cushion behind, nodding slowly, and saw how the lizard girl gripped her thighs, her fingers whitened under the pressure.

He looked up with an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry, Neeko, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

The lizard girl gave a sad smile, “Is okay. Neeko has decided you are a nice Ezreal.” She smiled, tilting her head slightly, her smile turned mischievous, a glint in those strange eyes, “But Neeko was asking because Ezreal looks too pretty to be a boy.”

The room fell silent.

Jinx burst out laughing first, throwing her head back in wild howls of laughter, crashing her fist into the cushion next to her.

Lulu and Sarah were just as bad as Jinx, giggling aloud, but at least they weren’t curling over onto him as the crimsonette was.

Janna and Soraka had politely pulled their hands up to cover their own laughter.

Poppy was just smiling, but clearly found it as funny as Jinx had.

Syndra was the only one not laughing. His only saviour in this tide of laughter—

“Snrk!” Syndra looked away from him, a wide smile was still visible from the side, and her hand had splayed out, finger tips resting on her chest as she laughed regally.

Ezreal looked around with a blank expression.

“What are we laughing about?” A soft, mirthful tone spoke, breaking through the loudness of the room. Putting a plug in everyone’s (excluding Jinx) laughter, where the crimsonette could barely contain her giggles.

“I said Ezreal was pretty for a boy.” Neeko repeated.

And like that, the plug was yanked out and tossed to the wind. Everyone was laughing aloud this time. Ahri included.

“Y-you should, aha,” Ahri giggled, shaking her head, “take that as a compliment, especially from Neeko, Ezreal.”

Sarah was laughing harder, and Neeko had a panicked look in her eyes.

“No, no! Neeko didn’t mean it like that. He’s a boy, and he’s just pretty.” Neeko her hands up defensively, like it was whatever Ahri was suggesting was horrifying to the lizard girl. In fact, now that Ezreal thought about it, which was hard with Jinx practically cry-laughing on his shoulder, shaking him back and forth, the way Neeko emphasized the word ‘boy’ and how he was ‘just’ pretty, tipped something off about the new girl.

Ezreal’s eyes widened, and he looked back to Ahri with his jaw dropped.

“She’s—?” Ezreal started, but was quickly silenced by a finger on his lips. He got a sharp nod from Ahri, as if answering his question before he asked it.

 _‘Into girls?’_ Ezreal finished mentally, turning back toward the lizard girl, laughing nervously with flustered cheeks. Everyone’s laughter died down

“I’m glad everyone is getting along with Neeko already. Please, welcome her as kind as you can, and look forward to working with her in the future,” Ahri smiled widely, the other girls in the room agreeing or nodding along. Ezreal laughed nervously as Ahri took her finger away, shaking his head and catching a glimpse of Lux, still outside behind the glass door.

Her back was to them, looking up to the clear skies above. The room died down from laughter, amicable conversation passing around him, forgotten as he watched the pink haired woman stand motionless, her hair swaying softly in the wind. Her hands against the small of her back, folded into one another in a gentle hold.

Ezreal wondered how they’d feel. There were no marks or calluses visible from where he was, and chose to believe the pale skin was smooth and immaculate. It wouldn’t bother him if they weren’t anyway. As silly as it sounded, as long as they were her hands, that’s all that mattered. Curled around his own hand, just to hold.

If he was braver, or maybe less caught up in the moment, he’d have admitted his feeling last night. It was the perfect opportunity too! A girl in his arms, crying but laughing because of him, just the two of them alone in the dead of night.

All he’d said was that he’d ‘help her take off the costume’.

He felt a bump in his ribs.

“Quit your staring, golden boy,” Jinx teased, a knowing look in her eyes, “you should take a picture, that way you can do that in your own private time.”

“Staring?” Ezreal’s voice cracked in embarrassment, he coughed into his hand, the others shifting their gazes to him. His neck heated up from their curious and mirthful looks, and a crimson flush painted his nose and upper cheeks, a quick laugh followed, “I don’t stare.”

“Oh? Sure you don’t,” Jinx gave a small shrug, her devious smile growing wide and toothy. Ezreal picked up his tea, staring into the dark surface with a calm smile, despite the red growing on his face, and took a sip of the still hot liquid.

“You just walk into half naked girls on a whim. Not enough time to stare then, just ogle.”

Ezreal’s windpipe choked as tea nearly invaded his lungs. He shakily put the teacup back, sputtering out denials and refusals, but only ever managed to choke and cough as hot agony seared his inner flesh.

Jinx laughed aloud again, finding his reaction funnier than the prank she pulled on him earlier.

“Actually,” Lulu spoke up, before the other Star Guardian’s could interrogate the only male in the group, “I heard Jinx tell Ezreal that Lux was already awake, just to knock on the door and walk in if she answered.”

All eyes then turned to Jinx, her laugh slowly dying down.

“Is this true, Ezreal?” Ahri spoke first, a rather serious look on her face. Ezreal wasn’t sure if it was because of him being a male, and walking in on a female, or if it had to do with the relationship between their team and Lux’s.

Probably both.

Ezreal nodded, his coughs dying down as he hacked into his palm.

“Well, Jinx,” Ahri’s face was sweet and sinister, making the crimsonette gulp audibly, “I believe a punishment is due.”

“You’re not my team leader.” Was Jinx’s only rebellious retort, said with a nervous smile.

“But Lux is, and one of my team members has been involved in this,” Ahri's smile fell to a line, cold eyes stared straight into Jinx’s soul, “The privacy of our teammates should be respected. Not used as a crude joke. It seems I’ll have more to discuss with Lux.”

“About what?”

Ezreal jumped, the other team leader standing right behind him. Jinx crumpled in her seat, a blank look in her eyes.

“My teammate appears to have walked in on you this morning.” Ahri said flatly, crossing a leg over the other, gesturing to the blonde.

Lux gave a small nod, looking down to Ezreal’s heated face. The blonde gulped and forced his head back down to stare into his lap.

“I assume he apologized?”

“He did.”

“Then,” Ahri gestured her hand back over to Jinx, who was probably wishing couches could eat people by now, “What of her punishment?”

Lux’s blank look shuffled over to her trouble maker teammate. Jinx stared up with wide eyes, which only turned wider as Lux’s features darkened with a wide smile.

“She has this teddy bear…”

The story was told again, and the room was roaring with laughter at Jinx’s expense.

***

Time passed on, discussing new tactics to incorporate Neeko into their groups. It was soon the afternoon, and Lux was leaning against the kitchen counter, munching on some strawberry toast. The other’s had either remained on the couch, any remaining tea cold and forgotten, or had gone out to exercise with a quick half-hour run, and possibly some training exercises at the nearby park.

At the moment, the only one’s remaining in the house were herself, Janna, Soraka and Neeko.

The latter of which had poked her shoulder from the side, her shoulders hunched and looking at her shyly.

“Excuse Neeko, Leader Lux?” Neeko mumbled out nervously.

Lux hummed, her mouth completely stuffed with toast, regarding the lizard girl with a small smile, toast falling down her lips and chin. Neeko did a double take, and giggled into her mouth. Lux felt her face heat up, and she hastily wiped away the crumbs with a sleeve, taking a large gulp and swallowing it down with a glass of juice.

“Yes, Neeko?”

“Neeko was wondering,” Neeko held her hands together, dropping them to her lap as she looked thoughtful for a moment. They’d all found out earlier, but Neeko was still learning the english language. The Star Guardian gems came with perks of instant communication, where, no matter what language someone would speak, a Star Guardian could both understand, and speak the language that the person knew best.

Neeko’s gem was slightly damaged, not enough so to actually damage her soul, just enough to affect her speech patterns. Her english was something that was easily fixed with help, but her gem would fix itself over time.

“Neeko was wondering,” she repeated, certainty filling her voice, but a nervous look in her eyes, “how long you have known Jinx.”

“Ah,” Lux clicked her tongue nodding slowly, understanding the situation, “did she say something offensive?”

“No?” Neeko tilted her head, an eyebrow raised.

“Did she do something offensive?”

“No,” Neeko deadpanned, “but Neeko assumes she is the troublemaker.”

“Yeah, uh,” Lux no longer understood the situation, “then yes? Did you want to know something?”

Neeko gave a shy nod, rolling a strand of hair with a finger, “About this Ekko person, are Jinx and him together?”

Now Lux understood the situation even less.

“No,” Lux shook her head slowly, eyes curious by what Neeko was leading into, “she has a crush on him. But he doesn’t know.”

“Ok,” Neeko hummed, a pleased smile on her face, “That is good.”

“Why’s that good?” Lux asked, trying to not let her earlier conversation with Ahri affect her tone, and failed miserably, her voice coming out like a growl. Was Neeko the same with finding a problem with relationships with people? Was it that wrong to lo— like someone?

“No reason!” Neeko panicked suddenly, probably because of Lux’s tone, which had the pinkette cringe in embarrassment. The new/old girl threw her hands up and shook them from side to side, “Neeko just wanted to know if, uh— Neeko thought Jinx was very funny, and wanted to, um, Neeko wanted to—” the lizard girl bit her lip, looking around panickingly.

Lux smiled supportively, not able to get through the girls ramblings. Honestly, it was a bit refreshing for someone other than her to be thrown into a stuttering mess. She wasn’t cruel enough to let Neeko continue until she blue-screened.

“It’s alright. Just find the word.” Lux encouraged. Neeko threw her hands up to her pink face, probably embarrassed that she was having such difficulty in talking.

“Friends!” Neeko finally found, shouting it to the heavens above, “Just to be friends! That is the reason. Yes. Friends with Jinx. Neeko is new, and wants to make friends.”

Lux nodded slowly, wondering why Neeko was so panicked about just wanting a friend. Did Neeko think she was overstepping, considering that Jinx was her best friend, and Neeko may have come from different cultures, it may have been intrusive to potentially steal a friend away.

 _‘Unlikely.’_ Lux smugly thought. Not even the crimsonettes could separate them.

“What would you like to know?” Lux asked with a smile. She was kind of glad Neeko was already trying to befriend members of her team, instead of just clinging to Ahri and sticking to what the kitsune would say.

“Nothing right now,” Neeko mumbled, scratching her nose, a small flush on her cheeks and a tiny smile, “but later, when Neeko wants to know?”

“Mm-hmm.” Lux nodded encouragingly, and the lizard girl made a tiny fist pump, before walking away, her hands interlocked and walked back to the couches, listening to Soraka and Janna explain their healing abilities, and how they differed.

Lux smiled, wondering why Neeko was curious about Jinx.

 _‘Just friends, huh?’_ Lux wondered.

She chuckled. That’d be too easy.

***

Ezreal disliked running, but knew it was good for him in the long term. Combat was largely based on mana consumption, and personal stamina. Which is why they all jogged at the same pace together when they could, with Lulu doing her best to keep up.

Outside of the Star Guardian outfit, they didn’t have the same stamina or magical upkeep as they usually did when they wore it. The suits themselves only amplified their pre-existing strengths, erego, if their stamina was built up twice as much outside of the outfit, then it would be built up four times as much with it on.

He wished there were a faster, easier way to do so.

“Hey, golden boy!”

Ezreal huffed, not really wanting to deal with more of Jinx’s shenanigans. Still, he had to do his best to keep up with the group, and Jinx was slowing down to stand next to him, as they jogged down the empty road. It was their usual running space, due to the fact that people usually got nervous when a group of teenagers were running down the street.

“What’s up?”

“What’d you think of the new girl, she’s pretty, right?” Jinx grinned, her face slightly red from their nonstop, thirty minute jog, “Definitely someone you could cuddle for hours, ey?”

“I, uh, don’t make a habit of complimenting the other Guardians, so I won't start with the new girl.” Ezreal shook his head, dreading the thought about thinking of any of his teammates in that way.

They could all kick his ass in their own unique ways, all the way to Sunday.

“Just for Lux then?” Jinx cheekily suggested. Ezreal pressed his lips together tightly, avoiding eye contact with the crimsonette girl.

“What gives you that idea?” Ezreal asked, trying his best to keep his voice from cracking again, ignoring how his heart skipped a beat, thankful his face was already red.

“I saw you both last night.” Jinx continued to tease, poking her tongue out at him.

And like that, Ezreal nearly fell over, stumbling over his own feet, and stood stock still as he landed firmly. The others stopped too, but only because the run was over. The others were taking heavy breaths, Lulu having the roughest time out of all of them, desperately drinking water like it was air.

“What?” Ezreal finally managed to get out, dropping his hands on his knees as sweat dripped down, “Were you following us?”

“Yep!” Jinx admitted, not finding anything wrong with stalking people, “Was a bit hard after you teleported, but Fortune knew your little guilty pleasure spot, so we took off over there.”

“Sarah was there too?”

“And Lulu and Syndra.” Jinx nodded along.

“Didn’t expect Syndra to go along with you.” Ezreal grumbled, taking a large gulp of water. Jinx ignored his comment, bringing her hands together and resting them against her cheek.

“It was so cute! Are you going to take her on an actual date?” Jinx giggled at the word, shaking her head sillily with both her hands on her cheeks.

Ezreal tilted his head slightly, an airy chuckle left his mouth, “Wasn’t what we did count as a date?”

“You didn’t say it was a date, dummy,” Jinx laughed, “You just asked if she wanted to chill out at a smoothie place.”

“But it’s—"

“—Not the same thing,” Jinx finished for him, “at least not to Lux.”

“Why not?” Ezreal shrugged, “I mean, she isn’t dumb, she’d know that two people hanging out by themselves and hugging would have to be a date.”

“You’re right that she isn’t dumb,” Jinx conceded that much, but closed an eye and rose a finger to the air, wagging it in front of his face, “but she’s stubborn and thickheaded.”

“Is she?” Ezreal said, disbelief thick in his voice, “she’s really smart though. Like super smart. She sleeps in the middle of class and still manages to get the top three marks.”

Jinx blew a raspberry and flicked his nose, making him take a step back in surprise, “What was—”

“Thickheaded and stubborn,” Jinx slowly repeated, throwing her head back with an exasperated sigh, “not dumb. She doesn’t think about the subtle meanings. And she won’t go ahead and ask you out either. She’s a traditional girl, annoyingly enough.”

Ezreal slowly nodded, starting to get what she was talking about.

“So the only way to get her own a date, is to ask her out on a date?”

“That sounds like a good idea!” Jinx smiled widely, clapping her hands condescendingly slow, “go ahead and do that when we get back.”

“What?” Ezreal’s cheeks darkened, already red in the face from their run.

“Eh, you did it last time. Just do it again.”

“But didn’t you say that wasn’t a—”

“It was for any normal thinking person,” Jinx tutted again, “Lux ain’t a normal thinking person. She’s book smart. Not social smart.”

“Right.”

Jinx clicked her fingers, doing finger guns as she turned away, assumedly to bother someone else.

“What a day this is turning out to be,” Ezreal groaned, splashing water onto his face, crossing his brow in thought, “Just ask her out, huh?”

He laughed. That’d be too easy.

***


	3. Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ezreal find some new friends at the Arcade.  
> Lux has some innappropriate dreams.  
> More plot than fluff here.

Turns out it wouldn’t be easy.

Ezreal sighed as he popped into the Smooth Smoothie Bar, the doorbell jangling as he stepped through, the sun setting behind him. He’d really wanted to try to ask Lux out for a date, but the universe seemed to be plotting against him today.

Ahri insisted the team meeting be called off a few hours early, but didn’t offer an explanation why, practically dragging her team out of Lux’s house. Lux herself was also acting strange, like it was yesterday at school all over again, but just reserved for him. Every time he’d found an opportunity to catch her alone, she’d clam up with one word answers and look real awkward, never making eye contact with him and keep walking when he tried talking.

It was enough to make Ezreal stutter over his words until Lux latched onto another Guardian like a lifesaver buoy. There was no way he could make a clear confession with the others watching, that’d just lead to trouble, especially with how Ahri was watching him whenever he tried to talk to Lux.

His leader may have thought she was sly, but he caught her gaze a few times, pretending like he wanted to talk to her so she didn’t awkwardly look away. It was about then that she wanted to leave, after the fourth or fifth attempt to talk to Lux.

Ahri wanted to talk to him about something, but he wasn’t exactly in the mood for whatever she had to say, and shifted to the Smoothie Bar.

All in all, today went poorly.

 _‘Got to see Lux in her bra though.'_ His brain countered, and his nose and cheeks flushed at the thought. Guilt gnawed at him for peeking, but she wasn’t angry at him, or didn’t act like an anime girl, throwing punches and calling him a perv.

If anything she was just as embarrassed as he was, and didn’t even ask for an apology, knowing full well it was Jinx playing pranks on him.

Ezreal took a right, tapping the bell on the counter. This place was a saint of a place to find, apparently doubling as the owner’s home on top of an arcade and smoothie bar. He wasn’t hundred percent sure why he had it like that, but he never really told Ezreal much about his past.

Maybe that’s why Ezreal kept coming back, other than the exceptional smoothies and decent arcade games. Tall, dark and mysterious characters always had him intrigued.

“Ezreal!” His name was spoken loudly in a heavy, south-african accent. Arms were thrown up into the air as a tired face greeted the blonde. He was at least another foot taller than Ezreal, and had short, black hair and wore a messy, fruit stained apron over a royal purple shirt and black shorts, “my favourite customer.”

“Hey, Kassadin,” Ezreal waved, resting an elbow on the counter, “how are you doing?”

“Well! Very well,” Kassadin nodded, already grabbing out some bananas, yoghurt and ice. It was the only thing Ezreal bought, a plain old banana smoothie in the extra-large size. Kassadin got to work, quickly blending it all together. Kassadin looked over his shoulder, his violet eyes were tired, but mirthful, “Where is your lover?”

Ezreal’s nose flared up a crimson red, he scratched the back of his head and looked away with a tiny cough. The memory of Lux’s jiggling chest coming to mind, and his blush deepened.

“She isn’t my ‘lover’,” Ezreal grumbled, Kassadin gave a single, loud ‘hah!’ as his response, shaking the blender a little from side to side, encouraging the chunks of banana at the top to slide down. Ezreal sighed, recalling the words from Jinx earlier, “according to one of her friends, I didn’t make it clear enough that I wanted to be… something more.”

“Well,” Kassadin turned around, pouring the contents into a litre-large cup, “It sounds like you aren’t sure what you want to be with her.”

“Huh?” Ezreal dumbly responded, sliding his card over the machine, content with the little ‘ding!’ that sounded off, “What do you mean?”

“If you ‘didn’t make it clear’ from the start, then it isn’t clear to you,” Kassadin hummed, leaning over to meet Ezreal’s eyes at level height, “do you think she is a pretty woman?”

“Yeah?” Ezreal went to drink, only to watch as the drink was taken away from him and gently put on the counter. He looked back up to Kassadin, who had an eyebrow raised at the blonde.

“She’s pretty, cause enough for anyone to like her. But what about her is it that you think about first?”

“Um.” Ezreal looked away, shrugging slightly.

“Just think, what is it you see first when I say, ‘Lux’.”

_‘—A beam shot out from the sky, a piercing nail of pink crashed into the gaping maw of the giant creature. As the light faded, pink flames ate away the purple flesh, a giant hole straight through the centre of the creature. It’s body burnt away, and as Ezreal turned away, he saw a noble goddess of light and beauty, breathing heavily as her stave spun slowly, landing in her open palm before she fell from the sky. He rushed out, arms outstretched as he arcane shifted—’_

“Ezreal?” Kassadin dropped his hand on Ezreal’s shoulder, shaking him from the memory of Lux’s power, “What did you think of?”

Ezreal’s eyebrows curled inward, trying to find a way to speak his thoughts without revealing he was basically a magical superhero.

“She’s… strong,” Ezreal settled down, features softening as he recalled her forced smile, her will to carry on in the face of adversity, physical or mental, “So strong. She always tries to bear everyone’s burdens, giving every task her all and not thinking about herself in the process. She tries to handle everything herself, and I’m worried she’ll burn herself out in the process.”

Kassadin nodded, humming thoughtfully as his hand drew back from the blonde boy, curled under his chin, scratching his index finger along the side of his jaw. His humming turned from thoughtful to proud, an approving smile on his tired features.

“A strong woman, someone who’s willing to tolerate your nonsense.” Kassadin teased, making Ezreal roll his eyes and reach out for his drink, which was swiftly pulled closer to Kassadin, “If she is a strong woman, and a woman that tries her best, then open with that.”

Ezreal did a double take, “Huh?”

“You mean _‘pardon’_ ,” Kassadin corrected, shaking his head, “and what I mean is, tell her that she’s strong, that she could defeat any problem she faces, then, tell her you’d want to take on those problems together. Like lovers.”

Ezreal nodded along, face heating up slowly as Kassadin continued, “If she denies you, then it is your duty to help her with her challenges. The fault of those who believe they are strong, is that they cannot recognize when they are wrong.”

“That was sorta poetic,” Ezreal chuckled, eyeing his smoothie, “but, can I have my drink? I did pay for it.”

“Ah, the impatience of the young,” Kassadin faux-sighed dramatically, handing the smoothie over, “you best ask the girl out, Ezreal. You never know how long the opportunity stays with you.”

“I’ll try, Kassadin.” Ezreal nodded, turning away from the older man, smoothie in hand, making his way over to the arcade.

The place was relatively full, most of the machines were currently occupied. There was a group of older men raving around a claw machine, some guy with a wrestling belt rubbed in the fact that he managed to grab two stuffed animals in one go.

Ezreal sat in front of a fighting game, setting his smoothie between his feet. The game was something called _‘Versus Fighters X’_ , a rather bland title name, but the game itself was pretty fun. Whenever he saw the title, he had no idea the _‘X’_ was there for, especially since the game was the first in it’s series. He’d played it a bunch of times before, and only really played one character in particular.

“Need a player two?” Ezreal jumped, shooting a look over his shoulder to find a taller man. Long green hair fell to his shoulders and framed his face. Two large ears were atop his head, like Vastaya usually had, the same colour as his hair, and a single, large green wing folded on his back. He was an inch taller than Ezreal, but seemed taller because of those ears. His beard was short and framed his face, following down his cheeks and ja, the only _‘thick’_ hair was on his chin, which all shared the same green colour as his hair. His eyes were a warm emerald, and his smile was infectious.

Ezreal found himself nodding to the stranger, “Sure thing. Always fun with another.”

The stranger took a seat next to Ezreal, slotting in his own dollar, and they got to choosing a character.

It wasn’t unusual to see Vastaya around. They’re just a species that evolved alongside humans, same with the Yordles. Though, there were some shaky wars here in the past, there haven’t been any large scale ‘species against species’ wars in over two hundred years.

The first round started off relatively simple, neither of them using tech to any real degree, simply using the attack’s and dodges before either one of them could land a hit. Ezreal’s character, much like himself, could disappear and reappear to dodge attacks, the only drawback was that it used a bar of energy, and the bar itself could only be built up by landing attacks, or perfect blocking attacks.

His opponent’s character played far more defensively than Ezreal’s, focusing on blocking attacks to land heavy damage as the game went on, using shields to block ranged attacks, which Ezreal’s fighter relied heavily on.

It’d be an uphill battle for the blonde.

The stranger hummed triumphantly, landing the first successful hit after the first thirty seconds of the game, only four and half minutes remaining until a draw.

Both character’s had a few bars of energy by this time, with the stranger’s at three, with Ezreal’s on two.

The game started to get a bit more intense, with both characters dropping guard to make riskier plays. His opponent had managed to corner Ezreal to the side of the screen, landing light blows over and over. His opponent’s bar dropped by one, and his character broke through the guard, landing a devastating flurry of blows

Round one was over in the stranger’s favour.

Ezreal smirked and nodded to himself, readying himself the next round.

Both running on the energy of the last round, they immediately started attacking, only guarding for attacks that’d leave their character’s stunned or prone. Which let Ezreal land as many light, ranged attacks as he needed.

Both their health bars were near halfway, but Ezreal caught the stranger off guard by teleporting behind and landing a charged heavy attack, sending his opponent into the air, and followed up with ranged attacks, and finishing with an upward kick, his character doing a fancy backflip as he landed the final blow.

“Last round.” The stranger said, looking over to Ezreal with an excited glint in his eye.

Ezreal smirked and nodded, turning back to the screen as the announcer yelled out their final round, with only a minute remaining.

His opponent opened up with a gap-closer, expending two bars to stun Ezreal, prompting the blonde to mash buttons to break from it. The stranger used a flurry of heavy attacks, sending Ezreal through the air. The stranger was relentless though, and followed with a few aerial light attacks, sending him into the corner, at less than a quarter of his health in one combo.

Ezreal broke from the stun just in time to catch his opponent mid heavy attack, responding with his own heavy attack, sending the opponent flying across the room, which Ezreal used to spam his ranged attacks over and over, letting him reach max energy; five bars.

Ezreal charged a heavy ranged attack, sacrificing a bar, which took the character two seconds for full damage. The stranger used another gap closer ability, the last of his energy bars expended, just to break Ezreal’s attack.

Ezreal used another bar, his character disappearing and reappearing mid animation behind the stranger, releasing the attack upon teleporting behind him. The stranger's character managed a block, reducing the damage. Both characters were at a quarter now.

His opponent moved in close, opening with a gap closing light attack, which Ezreal managed to perfect block, but realized his mistake as his opponent gained another energy bar, and followed an explosion ability with that energy.

Ezreal was on a pixel of health now.

The stranger moved in for the final blow, a light attack coming straight for his face.

Ezreal used one more bar of energy, disappearing again, and using the last three bars for an ultimate attack.

His character reappeared, energy coalescing in his hand, right above his opponent, and threw that hand into a fist downward, cracking into his opponent and smashing him into the floor, causing it to impact from the force, and brought the stranger’s health straight to zero

The stranger threw his hands into the air, laughing happily at the loss. Ezreal smiled, turning back to the guy, trying to downplay his proud smirk.

“You’re pretty good.” the taller man praised, giving Ezreal a small smile.

“You’re pretty good yourself,” Ezreal returned, the both of them standing up. Ezreal held out his hand.

“Ezreal.”

“Rakan.”

Ezreal’s heart dropped as his hand was taken, his victory the last thing on his mind. The man before him shook his hand enthusiastically. He did his best to maintain his smile, his eyes widening slightly taking the man in. He had a big, happy grin, eye’s closed to exaggerate that smile further. He was gentle with his grip, but knew with pecs and biceps as big as those, there was plenty of strength there. He could probably clock Ezreal out with a single punch to the head.

But he wouldn’t do that, he wasn’t a bad guy. He was a pretty cool dude, so his name had to be a coincidence, that’s all. Maybe, Rakan wasn’t a common name, not as far as he knew, but it could’ve been international, like Kassadin or Luxanna. Not every name was unique, there could be dozens of Rakan’s out there— hundreds!

_‘Rakan and Xayah. Both darkened.’_

Ezreal thought that Ahri's previous team was an all girls team, that Rakan was just a strange name that could be applied to anyone. What were the chances there could be a male Star Guardian named Rakan?

_‘Neeko knew of only one other.’_

Neeko knew him, he was on Ahri’s old team. But it couldn’t have been him. Why would a darkened Star Guardian bother to show up at a smoothie bar, when they should’ve been plotting evil things. It was ridiculous to think that this super cool guy was an enemy. And based on his name too! It’s not like he has fancy hair or anything, just a dark green. He knew at least two people with green hair, and what cool person doesn’t dye their hair anyway.

It had to be a coincidence.

“You gonna let go of my hand?” Rakan asked with a slight chuckle.

Ezreal returned the chuckle nervously, dropping his hand to the side, “You said, uh, here by yourself?”

Rakan’s eyes lit up like he’d just won the lottery, “Nope. My girlfriend came here with me, only after bugging her ‘till she's actually come. Mostly for the smoothies. The guy over there really knows how to make a good drink”

 _‘Had to bug someone to come here? Sounds familiar.’_ Ezreal smiled, a certain pinkette coming to his mind.

“Well it’s good to finally meet someone else that truly appreciates the value of Kassadin’s smoothies,” Ezreal laughed, scratching the back of his head as anxieties of this man’s true nature bit into him like nits, “was your girlfriend upset that you managed to get her here?”

Rakan sighed dramatically, placing the back of his hand atop his eyes, the smile on his face still wide and mirthful.

“Oh, the love of my life complained the whole way here, and refused to even look my way when we walked in,” he started, and Ezreal smirked, his earlier anxieties slowly slipping away. Rakan continued, dropping his hand to clasp the other, “I beg, ‘please dear, one little kiss on the cheek, that’s all I ask!’ but lo! I am denied. She scoffs, telling me she’s picking out my flavour of smoothie, and walks away.”

Ezreal laughed, trying to stifle it behind closed his mouth. Rakan took this as incentive to continue, doing a small flourishing bow, “then, I grovel, chasing after her on hands and knees, ‘please my love, let me feel your hand atop my head, that’s all I ask’ and then, she flicks me on the nose, and says nothing more!”

He lets his hand touch his nose, feigning a gasped shock as though it had actually been flicked. Ezreal’s laughter died down, as Rakan took a seat again, watching the screen, which now showed two of the characters fighting, with the red word _‘demo’_ flashing on and off where the timer would be.

“What about you, got a girlfriend with you?” Rakan asked, then shrugging slightly, smile taking a teasing curl, “Or boyfriend? I don’t judge.”

“By myself today,” The blonde sighed, eyebrows curling in thought, a small frown coming to, “there’s a girl I like, but she’s been a bit…”

“Hard to talk to?”

“Yeah.”

“Here’s some advice,” Rakan dropped his smirk down to a smile, his eyes were very serious in that moment, he lifted a finger, “be her best friend first.”

Ezreal tilted his head, “Huh?”

“Worked for me!” He cheered, looking over an arcade machine, toward the smoothie bar, and did a fist pump in the air. Ezreal nervously laughed, hoping whoever she was, wasn’t who he thought she was. Rakan shook his head, looking back to Ezreal, still grinning.

“Look, when you’re their best friend, it means you’ll be there for them to depend on you. Just watch for how they treat you. If you’re like a servant boy to them, pack it up and move on. If they treat you like an equal, then you let ‘em know how you feel.”

Ezreal’s nose and cheeks burned at the thought, “Right, what then?”

“Depends on what they say,” Rakan shrugged, his other hand rising up, “but no matter what, you’ll either have a best friend,” he shook his left hand, “or a girlfriend,” he shook his other.

“Sounds easy when you put it like that,” Ezreal grumbled, a dry laugh escaping his lips, “do you usually offer love counselling when you first meet people?”

Rakan winked, “I do. I’m a purveyor of all things love.”

“Are you harassing someone, Rakan?” A feminine, deadpan voice asked from behind the taller Vastaya.

The aforementioned Rakan, spun around and dashed with a happy laugh, which was quickly followed by a feminine ‘No!’ as he swept another person into his arms. Ezreal followed with a grin, finding Rakan wrapping his arms around someone, and spinning them around in the air. She held two smoothies in both hands, and had a massive red blush on her face, who relented and gave a giggle as she was set down. She held out the smoothie for Rakan, who took it with a big, happy ‘thank you’, and leaned in to give her a quick peck on the lips. She rolled her eyes, giving the tall man a soft punch against his chest.

 _‘Don’t let it be them.’_ Ezreal found himself pleading, taking in the shorter woman’s features. She had a softer face than Rakan, rounder cheeks and a button nose. Her hair was a combination of purple and pink streaks, a frilly purple dress that dropped to her knees, with sleeves that doubled as fingerless gloves.

_‘Moment of truth Ezreal.’_

“It’s good to meet you, uh?” Ezreal tried, an eye wincing slightly in a nervous smile.

“Xayah,” She politely answered, her smile dropping upon making eye contact with him, instead of Rakan.

_‘But they’re so…’_

Ezreal nodded slowly, not wanting to blank out again, but he couldn’t stop stomach dropping as fear began to take him, “It’s good to meet you, Xayah.”

“Yeah, sure,” She dismissed him easily, rolling her eyes and looking back to Rakan, “Babe, we’ve been here for an hour, and we need to get ready for tonight.”

 _‘Tonight?’_ Ezreal immediately panicked, but did his best to hide behind a patient smile.

“Right, well, it was good meeting you, Ezreal.” Rakan said, holding out his hand to shake. Ezreal returned it lightly.

“Good meeting you too.” Ezreal said, his arm slack in Rakan’s strong grasp, smiling as they walked off, hand in hand. He watched them until they left his sight, far from the car park.

His legs felt like jelly, shakily grabbed his smoothie and took a large, slow gulp of banana smoothie, and made his way to the toilets. He practically threw the cubicle door open, shutting the door and sitting on the lid, breathing heavily in panic.

 _‘I’ve felt the presence of Lux’ team in the past, their gems calling out to us like they were a beacon of light,’_ His brows furrowed, a small droplet of sweat trailing down, _‘if that was the case, why couldn’t I sense them? Has it something to do with their darkened state? Could they sense me, if I couldn’t sense them?’_

Another mouthful of smoothie, and he hadn’t moved. His heartbeat was a jackhammer in his brain, thoughts spiralling from one to the next.

 _‘No, they couldn’t sense me. If they had, I would’ve been attacked on the spot, possibly killed or turned into whatever they are now,’_ Ezreal perked up, the shouts of those guys at the claw machine were a siren in his mind, even though they were rooms away. He felt his gem spark in his panic, Yuuto came bursting out to rest in his lap, chirping and humming concernedly against Ezreal's stomach, nuzzling into the blonde boy. Ezreal shakily rested his hands on Yuuto’s head, gently patting the small familiar, taking deeper breaths as Yuuto purred, staring at Ezreal with big eyes.

“Thanks, Yuuto,” Ezreal whispered, hunching over to hold Yuuto tightly, which the familiar responded with enthusiastic chirps, nuzzling deeper into Ezreal’s embrace. The blonde boy's thoughts cleared, with every deep breath, his skin cooling as nervous sweat dripped from his body.

 _‘They could’ve killed me. Ruined Kassadin’s shop and killed me.’_ The thought was invasive, the potential reality didn’t pass, assured by his current hyperventilation on a toilet. But it shocked him until he felt paralyzed.

He closed his eyes, forcing his mind to harden. Lux wouldn’t freeze up like this. He had to be strong like her, and be her equal.

 _‘They could’ve killed me.’_ His anxieties returned, and he shook his head again. The thought was pervasive, having him breath harder and harder. He had to push it down, at least for now. He couldn’t spell cast with fear clouding his mind.

 _‘Tonight. There’s something happening tonight, if I see them tonight, that’ll prove that they’re part of Ahri’s old team.'_ Ezreal nodded to himself slowly, biting his lip hard enough that it could bleed. Yuuto noticed this, and wiggled in his arms until he could deliver a wet lick along his cheek. Ezreal laughed, giving Yuuto a scratch behind the ears.

 _‘I should tell Ahri, let her know that I met them, and confirm that it was actually them,’_ He leaned back, letting Yuuto rest on his lap, staring at the ceiling of the toilet room, _‘I’ve only been here for about half an hour, and Xayah said she was here for twice that. I teleported here, so they couldn’t sense my arcane magic. I should be safe to teleport back.’_

Ezreal stood up, summoning his gauntlet and waving it through the air, picturing his room as clear as day. He took a deep breath, and punched into the air, disappearing entirely, leaving faint blue and gold sparks behind.

***

_‘I’ll always be there to help you take the costume off.’ Ezreal smiled, resting his hands on her hips, his fingers gently ghosting her skin beneath the hem of her shirt, her shirt riding up slowly with his hand. Lux felt the heat rise to her face, the blonde’s dumb grin making her feel comfortable yet shy at the same time. She looked down, the heat rising further as his bare chest was before her. She shivered, resting her hands against his warm skin._

_A finger rest under her chin, pulling her up to gaze into those big, dumb blue eyes. He leaned down, and Lux found herself standing on her tiptoes, meeting him halfway to—_

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* —

Lux’s hand landed on her digital clock with a crash. Pink eyes wide wide and staring into the ceiling. Her ears were so hot, boiling with embarrassment. She slapped the sides of her cheeks, then stuffed her face into her pillow and screamed, kicking her feet against the bed.

She rolled back over and heaved out a sigh. Was this her punishment for avoiding Ezreal like he carried the plague?

Her hand rested on her forehead as she stared at the ceiling of her room, recalling her day. As it turns out it was easy to keep Ezreal at an arm's length, but it hurt every time she tried to avoid the topic of last night. Ahri had given a solid argument about just being ‘friends’, but it still pained her to see Ezreal’s face turn downcast, even only for a second, before he brightened back up, engaging in the conversation Lux would be having with any of the other guardians.

Jinx had been looking at her funny all day, especially whenever the pinkette managed to avoid Ezreal’s attempts at conversation. Thankfully for Lux, Jinx was preoccupied by the curious Neeko, probing the crimsonette about her hobbies, which got Jinx rambling on about her medals in competitive sprinting. Neeko then when onto complimenting Jinx’s long hair (‘it’s so long and such a pretty shade of red, Neeko really likes it!’), asking Jinx about her familiars, Kuro and Shiro, and going on about her past experiences of being a Star Guardian.

Neeko hadn’t asked anyone else the same questions. Apparently she was pretty serious about being friends with Jinx, taking away her best friend's time from Lux. Deciding to spend the night at Lux’s house, just to get to know the new team better, as Ahri had a spare room for Neeko already set out.

Lux knew that Neeko just wanted to spend more time with Jinx. Not that Lux had a problem with that! Jinx also had no problem with that, apparently she was more than happy to talk about herself. Every answer Jinx gave was just another pump of air into her already inflated ego.

She gave another depressing sigh, rubbing her face into her fluffy white pillow. She’d finished the last of her school work, did some minor revision for a test on Monday and had slept for about half an hour before her alarm woke her.

Technically she should be up and having a light snack, before everyone had to go out for their patrols. That was five minutes ago, meaning she had another twenty left.

 _‘Twenty minutes to nap.’_ Lux thought sleepily, her eyes closing for a moment. For a moment, she was able to start falling back to blessed sleep. There was dumb blonde, smiling down at her—

She opened her eyes and sat up straight.

“A snack sounds pretty good right now!” Lux said aloud, embarrassment coating her words and her ears red.

She swung the door open, face to face with Jinx, smiling widely. Lux squeaked in shock, taking a step back from her, quieter than usual, friend.

“Hello, Lux.” She said, strangely placid.

“Um, hi?” Lux tried. Whenever Jinx got quiet, it meant trouble was abound. The crimsonette’s smile became wider, eerily so. Her hands fell behind her back, and she started to rock back and forth.

“What does Lux think?”

Lux blinked and tilted her head to the side, eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Of what?”

“Of Jinx’s body? Does it look convincing?”

Lux was at a loss for words, but the girl in front of her giggled in a very un-Jinx like manner. With a shimmer of green, crystalline light, Jinx’s form flashed into Neeko’s. Lux jumped, eyes wide with surprise, her jaw hung low.

“Wha—?”

“It is Neeko,” The lizard girl threw her arms into the air, doing some jazz hands and lifting a foot behind her, “ta-da!”

“That was so cool,” Jinx, the actual one, rounded the corner, clapping and laughing obnoxiously, “Neeko’s been showing me back in my room, while you were napping. She’s pretty cool, right, Lux?”

Lux nodded slowly, rolling her eyes with a small smile. Neeko flushed with a small smile, holding her hands behind her back and twisting her shoulders from side to side, looking at Jinx in the corner of her eyes. The crimsonette not noticing Neeko’s strange look and chuckling slightly.

“You can use illusions?” Lux asked, slightly miffed that Neeko was being influenced by Jinx for little pranks. At least Neeko hadn’t tried to keep up the illusion for the whole night, though, if Lux was a little more awake, and a lot less stressed, she would’ve been able to pick up on the inconsistencies of Jinx’s personality.

Neeko made a so-so motion, “Neeko can copy a form, but it takes a while, and their spells are not Neeko’s, so it is harder to use in combat.”

Lux nodded slowly, her growling stomach breaking the brief silence between the three girls, leaving Lux slightly flustered.

“Neeko is hungry too,” Neeko sheepishly added, still twisting her body from side to side, her tail swinging back and forth.

“Same, need to eat before we go.” Jinx waved over them to follow.

Poppy, Lulu and Janna were already in the kitchen, with Poppy cooking up some eggs and sausages. The smell of oil and seared meat had filled the decently sized kitchen, both Janna and Lulu were eating already, while Poppy had her own half-eaten plate of food.

“How many do you guys want each?” Poppy asked aloud, her hearing sharp enough to notice three of them walking down the staircase.

“Two of each,” Jinx and Lux answered simultaneously, standing on either of Neeko’s sides.

“Three of each,” Neeko scratched her face, heat rising up as both Lux and Jinx looked at her with surprised and humourous eyes. Neeko, misreading the situation, thought she was in trouble. Her shoulders hunched slightly and she held her hands behind her back, tail swinging low, “if that’s okay?”

“More than okay,” Poppy grinned, getting to work like it was no issue, “girls gotta eat too. Does us no good when you’re hungry on the job.”

Neeko lit up, taking a seat and waiting patiently at the counter, watching Lulu scarf her own food down messily, Pix helping her with that endeavor.  
Lux smiled, taking a seat next to Janna while Jinx leaned on the counter, adjacent to Neeko.

Hopefully tonight wouldn’t drag on too late. Lux wanted to see the rest of that dream.

***

“Ahri!” Ezreal rushed from his room, the door swinging violently as he sprinted out into the hallway, nearly falling over. He bounced off the wall as his body was close to crumpling, Yuuto flying overhead calling out to Kiko, Ahri’s familiar.

Ezreal slammed against her door, and not wanting a repeat of this morning, started bashing on her door relentlessly.

“Ahri!” Ezreal called out, panic rising in his voice as Rakan and Xayah’s faces flashed in his mind.

Her door swung open, a look of impatience and agitation on her face, but concern written in her eyebrows, a flash of amber washed over him.

“Breath.”

Ezreal went slack, taking lungfuls of air that he didn’t realize he needed. His heartbeat slowed, and eyelids drooping as her charm took effect.

“I wanted to speak to you Ezreal, and I don’t like that you ran off like this morning,” Ahri started, shaking her head and her eyes spoke of her disappointment, like she thought she was his mother. Ezreal really didn’t want to hear her, and used his mental connection with Yuuto to slap him out of the charm. She continued, “it’s about your little _‘excursion’_ with Lux yesterday, and that you need to inform me—”

Yuuto flew down and slapped Ezreal across the face. Before Ahri could chastise him for breaking out of her charm, Ezreal beat her to the punch.

“Rakan and Xayah!” Ezreal yelled out, his hyperventilation returning as Ahri’s face dropped darkly.

Both her well manicured hands landed on Ezreal’s shoulders, nails digging through his clothes to have him wincing in pain. Ahri closed her eyes and huffed, lowering her head and releasing Ezreal from her death grip. She looked back up, clearly holding back the rush of emotions sending her mind through turmoil.

 _‘Emergency team meeting. Downstairs, now!’_ Ahri’s mind called out, touching each of her teammates' minds. Everyone stepped out of their rooms in a rush, following Ahri downstairs to their living room.

Ahri stayed standing, parallel to Ezreal, who sat next to Soraka, looking at him with a gentle, concerned expression. Syndra and Sarah were sitting at attention, looking between Ezreal and Ahri.

“Ezreal,” the kitsune started, taking a deep and shuddering breath, “tell me what they looked like, before we jump to conclusions.”

Ezreal swallowed, “It was at the smoothie place, he had green hair and she had this darker red shade. Both of them were Vastayan, with bird-like features—”

“You found Rakan and Xayah?!” Sarah immediately stood up, “What were they—”

“Sarah.” Ahri glared at the gunslinger, the latter of whom slowly sat down, her hands curled into fists on her lap.

Ezreal’s heel bounced up and down, leg shaking as his anxiety swelled.

“It’s okay, Ezreal,” Soraka quietly spoke, resting a hand on his bouncing thigh, gently encouraging him to stop. Ezreal closed his eyes, nodding slowly, letting Soraka rub his back in small circles, “you’re still here. Here with us. You’re safe with us.”

“I know.”Ezreal whispered, and arms rising up to grip his biceps, nodding slowly and opening his eyes.

Soraka looked over to Ahri, her eyes hardened slightly, “Be gentle with him. He’s in shock.”

Both Sarah and Ahri winced, their team leader taking a seat on the other side of Ezreal. He looked up to her, watching as she took one of his hands and rested between hers. Soraka smiled, still rubbing his back.

“Did they hurt you?” Ahri gently asked, taking on a proper motherly tone. Ezreal shook his head, this weird scratching in the back of his throat annoying him. His eyes felt scratchy too, which was really uncalled for. He was a cool guy, he didn’t cry.

Definitely not in front of his team.

“They couldn’t sense me, I couldn’t sense them either. If they could,” Ezreal’s mouth ran dry, while his eyes wetted, wide and worried as he looked into his leader’s. He whispered out his only thought for the last five minutes, “They could’ve killed me.”

Ahri wrapped her arms around him, bringing him in to rest against her chest. Ezreal sniffled, his arms going slack as Ahri ran a hand through his hair.

“I won’t let that happen.” Ahri angrily whispered, “Not ever.”

“We should inform the others,” Syndra spoke up, “They’re in as much danger as us. We should use the two partner stratagem tonight, keeping Ezreal as a relay, in case a pair encounters the darkened.”

Ahri nodded, keeping Ezreal in her arms, while Soraka continued to rub the small of her back “Go. Take Sarah with you, she’ll explain their abilities on the way. We’ll meet you as they leave.”

Syndra and Sarah nodded, transforming and taking flight through the open window.

“Relay?” Ezreal asked, voice slightly muffled by Ahri’s embrace.

“I’ll explain in a moment, when you’re calm,” She soothed, letting him up and looking into his eyes, “how are you feeling?”

“Better,” Ezreal mumbled, his words betrayed by the wet trails down her cheeks, “I… I think it was worse because they were so…”

“Normal?” Ahri smiled sadly.

“Yeah.”

“Maybe when they’re not using their gems,” Ahri sighed, looking at her open palms in her lap, “and if they didn’t recognize you as a Star Guardian, then I guess they wouldn’t have any reason to act as they truly are.”

“Rakan was so nice, I can’t understand—”

“Rakan isn’t as deep in the darkness as Xayah is.”

“And Xayah?”

“Gone. I think the only thing she remembers is her love for Rakan, nothing else.”

Ezreal closed his eyes, “What should we do then?”

“I’ll be going with Syndra tonight,” Ahri stood up, “You’ll act as the relay, any information that is transmitted to you, from there, you should be able transmit any message back to the others.”

“I’m not going out fighting?” Ezreal asked indignantly, “Why?”

“I won’t ask you to fight them, you could freeze up. Get yourself hurt.”

_‘I could’ve died.’_

“R-right,” Ezreal chuckled, “I’ll stay here.”

“Good,” Ahri pressed her lips to a line, and opened her mouth to say something, but instead stood up and nodded to Soraka, “Don’t leave the house under any circumstances, Ezreal. We will be back in no time at all.”

They both transformed, and without another word, took flight through the dusky sky.

Ezreal’s heel started bouncing up and down again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to my $5+ or more Patrons:  
> Ravenous  
> Miranek  
> settingscarlett
> 
> Please consider supporting me on Patreon!  
> https://www.patreon.com/WriterWrathorn


	4. Dark Devastation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This'll be a tad shorter than previous chapters, but the ending of this one came a bit naturally, so I let it be.
> 
> Please enjoy!

Ezreal looked down at the coffee table a foot away from his legs. A single lamp illuminated the area, the whole house a sea of darkness. He hadn’t moved since the others left, and hadn’t bothered to turn on any other lights. Being a relay, all he had to do was chill out. He could certainly continue being a relay, even if he was fighting, but staying in one spot helped everyone determine the range of communications.

He didn’t need to pop from one side of Valoran City to the other, and mess everyone’s connection up.

He stood up, Yuuto yawning on his shoulder as he did so, climbing the staircase of the Darkened house to find his room. Finding more comfort to lay on his own bed. Well, compared to staring at a dim lamp.

He fell backward to his bed with a grunt. Yuuto leapt off his shoulders to float down to his stomach to rest peacefully. His eyes wandered to the side window, fully open to let the cool air rush in. He found the moon hanging in the sky, its light overwhelming the many stars above. The city lights did a better job of that than the moon did, really. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, not to Ezreal anyway.

Humans, Vastaya and Yordles _all_ found comfort in the light. Perhaps it had something to do with the theory that all life was born from stardust. That, when a star would reach a supernova, all the material built up within would be flung out into open space, to collect with other debris. From there, life was a chance gifted unto those who were lucky enough to experience it.

Ezreal had often pondered, were they granted the power of the stars, because once upon a time, they were all part of that celestial entity?

He smiled at the thought. The expression _‘there’s a star in all of us’_ was a bit literal in that case, though, he was sure there had to be more to the selection process to become a Star Guardian.

Rakan and Xayah came to the forefront of his mind. He winced; looking away with a downcast expression. 

Darkened. That was the term Ahri used. Yet, Ezreal felt that wasn’t right. Maybe in Xayah’s case, from how apathetic she had acted when she’d met the blonde. But anger didn’t make anyone _‘dark’_ . In the same way that, happiness didn’t make anyone _‘light’_.

Rakan was different. He was warm, and comforting. Hells, he even tried to give Ezreal _romance advice_ to a guy he’d known for all of five minutes. But Ahri had said he wasn’t as deep into the darkness like Xayah was. Their Darkened state must have been either _forced_ onto them, or they had _chosen_ to take it.

If it was the former, then all Ezreal could feel was pity and anger. Someone who would take other peoples star gems, their souls, and twist it against their will were truly detestable.

If it was the latter, then Ezreal didn’t know what to feel. He’d gather that it would be Xayah who would make the decisions, and Rakan would willingly follow along, just for her.

Either way, it had left them Darkened. And if that meant they would attack the Star Guardians, then that must’ve implied they were _against_ the First Star.

 _‘But why?’_ Ezreal’s brows curled further. Two people, both in love with one another, acting against the First Star’s wishes. If they could feel _love_ then why were they Darkened?

Ezreal sighed, unable to find the answer. His focus flicked to his wardrobe. His uncle’s large coat hanging out, the sleeve waving softly in the cool air of his open window. He’d had two uncles, one on each of his parent’s sides. His mother was apparently from the Freljord, while the other was from Piltover. Besides that, he didn’t know much about his family, which apparently wasn’t too uncommon for a lot of Star Guardians. The only person on either team he knew that had familial connections was Lux.

His heart stung a moment. Pain that he guessed Rakan would know all too well.

“I’m glad I don’t have to fight them,” whispered to himself with a shaky breath, “I don’t think I could, not for anything.”

***

Lux’s twirled over Valoran park, not finding much interest in the way of combat. There weren’t any portals to be found by _anyone_ so far that night. She was sort of glad that the relay strategy was being used that night. Even more so that _Ezreal_ was chosen to be the relay too.

No awkward conversations while they worked. Nothing but a few hours of flying, and if they were lucky, no voidlings to take out either.

The relay itself was a brilliant idea, one that Ahri had used in her previous patrols. Teams would be assorted in accordance to the current threat of the night, and would be subjected to change depending on the circumstance. The relay themselves, Ezreal in this case, didn’t have to do much, and only needed to expend energy every half hour, and even that energy expenditure was minimal.

In tonight’s instance, Lux and Ahri had set everyone into pairs. As it was the best way to detect portal openings around Valoran City. They’d search the surrounding area in an outwards fashion, then return inwards, all in a circular fashion.

The process was slow, but that only gave them _more_ time to find any openings to the Void. If any portal _was_ found, all other Star Guardian’s could navigate to it, and fight back the invading force pair after pair. Afterwards, injuries are assessed, healed and the night continues on as usual.

The relay was important, as it _boosted_ the presence of each Star Guardian’s light. They didn’t have some mental link keeping them together, that’d make it too easy. A lot of it was guess work, but Void portals tended to open up high into the sky, or just outside of the City anyway. So it wasn’t _too_ difficult to find where the fighting was.

Some nights, if hardly any portals are found, then groups are assigned in trios or in fours, depending on available numbers. And how many hours had passed since they’d begun patrolling. There were also opportunities for other Guardian’s to be given time off, usually for important assessments or night classes. 

With how the portals have been spawning in recent days, that hasn’t been the case. Portals by the dozen had been opening up around Valoran City. In exchange for increased numbers, the Void had only been sending the lesser creatures. Mostly Voidlings, which were no larger than the size of a microwave. With four dagger-like arms. And three creepy, yellow, diamond shaped eyes.

They came in number, but that just meant Jinx got to have more fun exploding them.

Speaking of her crazy bestie, she’d be bored out of her mind with nothing trying to attack Valoran tonight. Nothing highly important had been of note so far. Only a dozen portals had appeared the last time Lux had been on patrol, which was only two days ago. 

Tonight was probably like last night for Ahri. No portals, just Neeko and three Darkened coming through. Even so, the chances of the Void attacking were always high. The fact that nothing had shown up didn’t leave Lux annoyed.

It left her nervous.

Her mind wandered back to last night. When Lux and Ezreal spent time together. She felt a lot better, in his gangly arms. They were strong, sure, all Star Guardian’s were. But just being able to spend the night without her Star Guardian form, without responsibilities or duties, had never felt _better._

N-not because she got to hug Ezreal for the better part of an hour! 

She patted her cheeks, which were doing an excellent imitation of her hair colour. She refocused, eyes scanning the park below them. Still no portals. Nothing for the past two hours, and no sight of the Darkened Star Guardians.

Ahri had said it was a risk, but two Guardians should be able to hold Xayah and Rakan while the others make their way. Therefore, pairs were placed into this order: Ahri and Soraka; Janna and Syndra; Jinx and Neeko; Lulu and Sarah; and finally herself and Poppy.

The hammer wielding Yordle yawned into her open palm, her big blue eyes lazily scanning the area below. Her azure aura kept her afloat, hiding her form from the civilians. Her hammer was held in one hand, and seemingly had no weight. Lux knew better though; the hammer was sentient, in a way, and only let Poppy wield it.

Lux lazily twirled in the air, watching the rising moon overhead.

She really wished she could be with her dumb blonde in that moment. Ahri had told her, and her team, of what Ezreal experienced earlier yesterday. They'd all been bothon high alert that night, but nothing came of it.

But, Darkened in their casual states, and being unable to do _anything_ about it would’ve shaken anyone.

Actually, most of her teammates were a bunch of nutcases, and would have attacked them on sight. Poppy would fixate on her ‘duty’. Jinx would simply delight in the excuse to fight. Ahri, Neeko and Sarah knew them both, so a fight would’ve been inevitable. Syndra was hard for Lux to read, but probably would’ve attacked.

All in all, maybe it _was_ a good thing Ezreal found them first. He was the reason they knew they were planning to do something toni—

The whistle piercing her ears alerted her first. She forcibly dropped from the sky, a crimson and green four-pointed, star shaped blade slicing off a lock of her hair. Pink eyes widened. Poppy called out to her, but she didn’t hear it. A man with a single, dark emerald wing came crashing into her. Her body was flung harshly to the park floor below, bouncing off the floor and slamming into a marble water fountain with a strained wheeze. 

She rolled to her elbows, her staff still in hand. She hacked out a ragged cough, head flung up with panicked eyes, and jumped into a sprint. Lux leapt over the water fountain as several, crimson star blades followed her movements, embedded into the concrete and dirt below.

Lux shot her stave out in a small twirl, fluorescent pink shooting out, covering her body in _hard light_ . She came to her feet, dashing forward to take off between the tall trees. More star blades followed her, the tell tale whistles before the harsh _thunk_ of their impact giving her an idea as to where her assailant was.

Poppy’s grunts and taunts echoed from above. Lux twisted around, throwing out a pink ball of light from her stave, the golden five-pointed star at its centre. With an echoing _clap,_ her spell exploded in a glimmer of light. 

The pinkette twirled again, uncaring if she’d managed to land a hit, only that she’d responded with offense.

Another blade flung past, and another struck her, thankfully blocked by her barrier. Lux grit her teeth. No doubt the two attacking her and Poppy were the Darkened that Ahri warned her team about.

Lux sprung from the trees in time to see Poppy charging straight for the Emerald Guardian. Another barrier spell flung from Lux’s stave, coating her in its light and _whooshing_ past Poppy. The pinkette felt another feather slam into her back, shattered by her reinforced barrier. She turned to face the Darkened.

The Crimson Guardian flew from the trees like a bullet, several four-pointed daggers held between her fingers. They were thrown, their tips aimed straight for Lux. The pinkette shot out another ball of light, which deteriorated on impact with the feathers.

Her Darkened enemy cried out as the rest of the energy coalesced around her, binding her arms and legs to their sides. She began falling from the sky, heading down to the—

Lux felt the wind get knocked from her as a horned owl planted itself directly into her gut. She felt weak. Like she’d been _drained._ The Emerald Guardian shot past her, somehow disengaged from Poppy’s range, and used the momentum from his familiar’s attack to fling himself down to the Crimson Guardian. 

She watched with wonder in her eyes as his dark visage brightened. His black cape shimmered a pure white— if only for a second. Positive, green energy washed over him and the other Guardian, with two green wings unfurled from his spell, only to curl around them. Xayah’s laboured breath evened, her bruised skin faded away. Rakan’s composure returned, and the healing wings dissipated. 

His sharp emerald eyes honed directly at her.

 _‘Marksman and Support type Star Guardians.’_ Lux huffed angrily, trying to control her panting breath. She floated up to Poppy, who was growling under her breath about a lucky shot.

“What do you gain from this?!” Lux called out, unable to hide the pity and confusion in her voice. Poppy gave her a sideways glance, but quickly refocused on the enemies at hand.

The Emerald Guardian, Rakan she assumed, gave her a pained look. Xayah simply scowled. Neither answered her though -- both separated in parallel directions, Rakan’s familiar shooting out toward her. She narrowly dodged the attack, the familiar gliding over her back. Pink light carried her forward to Rakan.

She threw out another binding, hoping to catch him mid-flight. Irritation burned through her as the Emerald Guardian dropped to the park floor, landing in the open field where ball games were played.

Lux felt a crash against her back. She cried out, but gave a shaky grin, thankful for maintaining her barrier. It was a necessary— but weakening— spell. She fell from the sky, unable to control the direction of her descent. Rakan’s familiar flew by her side, to float with the Darkened himself.

Predicting her movement, dark energies gathered around his form. He sprung forth to the ground below her. She flung her stave in front of her and another ball of pink light was cast out. Rakan grunted out his annoyance, cancelling out his spell and diving away. On contact with Lux’s spell, the floor exploded in a cloud of dirt and grass, which Lux fell through.

Thankfully, Star Guardian clothing didn’t need washing.

Pink light shone around her again as she willed her body upward, narrowly avoiding the ground head first. Her body flew parallel to the earth below, circling around the dashing Rakan. Another barrier spilled formed, its light heading straight for her Darkened enemy. He made another dodge, unaware that her spell was harmless to enemies. 

She flung a snare midway through Rakan’s movement. The Vastayan man gasped. Was he surprised by the rate she could cast abilities, or simply because an explosive ball made contact with his bare chest?

Regardless, pink light shone beautifully as it burst outward. Light dissipated, and Lux saw his body tumble from the sky. With a grunt he took off midair, flying toward Xayah.

Xayah’s hand grasped the haft of Poppy’s hammer, using it to roll over the Yordle, and kicked off Poppy’s back. Lux flew up, chasing after Rakan, and to save her teammate. She watched with wide eyes as Rakan’s shoulder slammed into Poppy’s smaller torso, forcing her back into the sky. Xayah curled her arms around her body, and flung them out, several crimson star-blades tore apart Poppy’s light shield. The Yordle’s cry echoed as she fell back down to the earth. 

With a cry of her own, Lux cast another barrier, and was relieved as another dagger harmlessly bounced off Poppy’s chest.

Poppy stalled her descent with a visible strain, arms locked in a ninety degree angle, her hammer floating aside her. Furious focus was clear in the Yordle’s brows, and her mouth stretched to a snarl.

“They’re good.” Was all Poppy grunted out, taking her hammer in a reverse grip. Lux nodded, twirling her stave in the air. Xayah brought her arms around her chest, hands hidden behind her back. Rakan’s owl familiar hooted dangerously as it rested in his open palm.

Poppy charged straight for the Vastaya, her body alight with azure energy. Rakan dodged again, his magic tethering itself from him to Xayah. The magic _pulled_ him toward the other Darkened. Lux’s eyes flickered. She fired another pink ball of light, headed straight for the Crimson Guardian.

Xayah hissed at the light, and flew away. Straight back into Poppy’s path. Rakan was brought back into her bath, wincing at Poppy’s magic bursting into him. Rakan managed to power through Poppy’s attack with another emerald shield. Both Vastaya swung their wings in tandem, pushing away from the bruiser.

Poppy was faster. In close range, she was hard to escape. Her hammer viciously swung, crashing into Rakan’s chest. Forcing him into Xayah. Rakan heaved out a sputtering breath, arms curling over his chest. Xayah grabbed a hold of his shoulders, pulling him with her as she fell. The hammer flew over their falling forms.

The Darkened dropped to the building below, into what seemed to be a decrepit church. Green light flickering within, Rakan’s magic no doubt at work.

Poppy heaved out a quick breath and glanced at Lux, who was panting heavily herself. Lux straightened up, nodded once, and followed the Darkened within.

***

Ahri’s ears flicked, her head cocking to the side. Lux’s light magic flared off brilliantly to her, and likely other Star Guardians, made all the more obvious with the Relay in play. Either they’d discovered a Void portal with a particularly strong entity…

Or it was the Darkened.

Ahri’s nails dug into her palms, already dashing through the air, flying between the tall buildings of Valoran city. Soraka caught up, her bright green light shining with Ahri’s cream. 

“Valoran Park.” Soraka said, looking to her kitsune leader.

“The other side of us, yeah,” Ahri gave a dry chuckle, “Should’ve figured those dumb birds would go to a park.”

Soraka didn’t say anything. Simply looking ahead with a downcast expression. Ahri couldn’t blame her, she was still new to being a Star Guardian, and seeing a Darkened in her first year would be disheartening.  
Such was their fate.

 _'Not us,’_ Ahri’s eyes hardened, _‘we won’t burn away.’_

Their spiral patrol held Ahri and Lux at opposite sides at all times, parallel to one another, and always the furthest. That was the point though, as the other’s would be far closer to _both_ captains at any given moment.

Ahri hoped that Lux could hold on with her teammate a while longer. They’d never had a fight like this in their lives.

***

Lux and Poppy landed inside the broken church. The dusty wooden floorboards cracked under foot. They stood back to back, weapons held in both hands angled above their chests. 

The church was silent, and only the moonlight from the broken ceiling peeked through. Six stone pillars supported the building, rising through the balconies that overlooked the ground floor. The church pews were rotted, much like the rest of the wooden floor. A swinging, broken chandelier swung above, possibly the largest one Lux had ever seen. Three ropes supported it, with one holding it directly, while the other two were on either of its sides, loosely holding it.

Likely in case the first snapped.

“I don’t like this.” Poppy whispered, her azure eyes scanning the dark, empty church. There was no sign of the Darkened Guardian’s magic, and Lux could hardly sense their Star Gems like she could with the other Guardians.

The relay hummed out to her, and she could _feel_ her allies getting closer. But at their speed, it would take five minutes for the closest of them to get there.

Another whistle in the air. Lux dropped to her hands, head flicking up to see several, four-pointed daggers embed into the rotted pew. Poppy roared aloud, charging to where the daggers were thrown. Church pews were flown into the air, sent crashing to the walls.

“No respect for public property, huh?” Rakan drily laughed, echoing all around both Lux and Poppy.

Lux cast another barrier, lighting both Poppy and herself in its protective radiance. The church flickered to life in light. But the Darkened were nowhere in sight.

“Like children,” Xayah’s monotonous voice carried out, “breaking everything around them. Looking for the light.”

More daggers whistled. They crashed into Lux’s barrier, and the pinkette winced in pain, but took it in stride. A small sacrifice for an opportunity. She blasted out another pink ball of light from her stave. Magic flying into the darkness. 

Explosive light bursted throughout the church once more. But Xayah was nowhere near the blast.

“No matter how hard you try…” Rakan sang out. Poppy growled under her breath, taking slow steps until both Star Guardian’s were back to back. Lux held her stave over her chest. Pink eyes searched wildly in the darkness, and found nothing.

“Your light is swallowed…” Xayah sang out, her droll voice sending shivers down Lux’s spine.

The sound of feathers above. Lux gasped as she looked up and found crimson. Claws slammed into Lux’s back, separating her from Poppy. The Yordle swung her hammer, using the momentum to carry herself around one-eighty. The hammer hit empty air, falling around to smash into the floorboards, sending debris flying around. Lux covered her face as splinters flew into her fallen body.

“In our _darkness!”_

Something grabbed Lux’s ankle before she hit the ground. She screamed as her body was forcefully thrown up into the air a full ninety degrees, then slammed into the broken floor below. Air knocked from her lungs. Pain shooting up her spine. Lux could barely utter a squeak, let alone gasp for air. 

Her assailant wasn’t done. She was spun around and tossed, her head colliding with the stone pillar with a sickening _crunch._

“Lux!” Poppy cried out. A roar followed, with the sound wood crashing around her. Azure light blazed throughout the church. Mocking laughter meeting her attempts at attack.

The pinkette could hardly register it. Her ears were ringing. Fingers numb. Light flickering. Warm liquid spilled down her forehead, a stream of red rolling down her brow and cheek, dripping to the floor.

She barely managed to open a single eye. Her vision was blurry, but she could see the Yordle fighting off the other two. She tried to get up. Her arms shook as she pushed herself to stand. Bile rose in her throat, and she fell back to the floor with a gurgle. A familiar sensation wracked her nerves, and her single eye opened. She gagged as spilled from her lips, coating the floor in sickness.

Breath haggard. Her body was aflame. Her stomach suffered the worst of it. She could only roll her head, only able to watch as Poppy fended off the Darkened.

***

“This way!” Jinx flew down through the clouds, diving for Valoran park. The park itself was huge, and there really was no telling _where_ exactly her bestie and the shortstack were.

Neeko was frowning. Her green eyes, with those strange club shaped yellow pupils, were hooded. The chameleon Vastaya was deep in thought, that much Jinx could tell.

She’d probably be the same, if it were her friends she was about to fight.

“You don’t have to join me, if you can’t fight ‘em. I’m pretty sure I can handle them.” Jinx tried her new friend. With her pretty green butterfly wings. And her pretty pink tail. And pretty hair.

Neeko was pretty, easily a solid nine out of ten. But they were both girls, so it was okay for Jinx to think that.

“No. Neeko must help. Her fault they are here.” Her eyes hardened, but a smile was on her cute lips. Jinx thought it was pretty too.

“Alrighty. Don’tcha try and back out when we find ‘em!” Jinx grinned, speeding off between the treeline, searching for a depressed pinkie, and a short-tempered shortstack.

“Neeko promises. She would not even think to leave Jinx alone!” Neeko aggressively answered, her wings fluttering faster, overtaking Jinx entirely.

Jinx didn’t understand why her neck felt so hot.

***

Poppy shoved the haft of her hammer against Rakan. The Darkened man gracefully blackflipped. His partner dashed below him. Daggers flew from her hands, crashing into the Yordles azure shield. Cracks formed in her last defense like shattered glass.

Poppy's hammer flung overhead, splinters followed in her wake. With a heavy step, the Star Guardian rushed into Xayah, her shoulder making contact with the Vastaya's gut.

A spittle filled gasp came from above. Rakan's familiar crashed into Poppy's side. Azure energy drained from her. Fatigue washed through the bruisers body _harshly_. Her counterattack severely weakened, Xayah managed to weasel her way out of Poppy's attack.

Rakan's arms curled around Xayah, her laboured breathing ceased. Poppy winced as her muscles screamed at her. She preserved, readying her hammer, as both Vastaya healed from their wounds.

Their gesture almost seemed loving. It made Poppy sick, seeing such a good natured act be used by vile _traitors_.

Another roar, and Poppy surged forward. Azure energy shone around her. Her hammer missed Xayah, the woman pushed out of the way by Rakan. But her attack made contact with the emerald shield he'd cast, sending him across the Church to knock over a dusty podium.

Xayah cast out another flurry of daggers, seemingly endless in supply. Poppy met them all in her stride, her shield barely holding together. Another leap into the air, and a downward smash of her hammer. Azure energy flashed from Poppy’s body, and into the broken floor, leaving behind a rectangular imprint of her magic.

The Crimson Guardian cried out as that magic exploded upward, knocking her middair. Poppy’s hand slammed at the hilt of her weapon, pushing herself up and spun. Her armoured boot carried through the wind, and had planted firmly into Xayah’s chest.

Xayah was knocked out of the air with a short gasp, crashing into a pillar parallel to Lux’s prone body. Her pink sailor uniform was still on. She was conscious. _Alive._

Poppy could feel the adrenaline wasting away in her body. She shook her head, psyching herself up with hardened eyes. She yanked her hammer from the broken floor, striding forward to swing her hammer straight into her—

Poppy’s face met the floor. A foot planted firmly into the back of her head. Lux’s barrier was completely destroyed, and her shield fell apart. She twisted around; hand shooting out to grapple Rakan. The boot on her head struck down again. Her nose _cracked_ against the floor _._ She groaned, dazed as she was rolled over. Blood spilled down both nostrils, caking her lips and chin in blood.

She was picked up by the throat. Ragged chokes left her body, as blood seeped back into her throat and left her gasping. Rakan’s angry, orange eyes stared her down, his entire body cloaked in a heavy shadow. 

He winced, his palm coming to rest on the side of his head. He shook his head, growling in pain. His grip around her neck tightened. Poppy’s hands weakly bashed his own, her short legs kicking back and forth uselessly in the air.

Rakan’s eyes returned to their natural green. Pain and guilt surfacing within. With a furious roar, he threw Poppy across the church. The Yordle cried out as her back slammed against a wooden wall. 

***

Lux could only watch her teammate in horror. Poppy’s Star Guardian uniform had faded away into azure light. The Yordle’s casual clothing returned in its stead. Poppy wasn’t moving, but the rise and fall of her chest brought a small comfort to the leader.

“One down.” Xayah growled, rising from the pillar she’d sat before. She took slow, stomping steps. Her daggers resting in her palms, her hold on them harsh enough that _blood_ coated the sharp weapons.

Lux shakily stood, her stave hung low in her hand. Her breathing was laboured, and her magic faint. Her mouth tasted awful. A mixture of the blood that covered her right eye, and the awful bile from earlier.

She’d cast too many barriers. All for nothing. She couldn’t protect Poppy.

Her eyes flickered between Rakan and Xayah. They were on the border of tiring out. Nowhere near as bad as the pinkette herself. The Emerald Vastaya only watched on, pity in his eyes. Contrasted by the murderous blaze within the Crimson’s.

Lux shot out a basic beam of pink starlight. Xayah merely twisted her shoulder out of the way. Her approach was slow, but no less menacing. Lux tried again, a panicked whine spilled from her bloodied lips. Again, Xayah made little attempt to avoid it. Lux tried to—

A crimson dagger planted itself in her stomach.

Lux’s eyes widened, fear coiling within her like a snake. Her lips open, feeling numb electricity run through them. Her knees were weak. A silent breath fell out of her mouth, and her body limply fell. She knelt before the Crimson Guardian. Tears streamed from her pink eyes. 

There was nothing she could do. There was no-one near to save her. Or Poppy. Xayah’s talon-like fingernails gripped Lux’s pink hair, tossing the girl back.

“Two down.” She smiled proudly, her eyes sharp with some sick pleasure as she stared at Lux’s beated form.

“Don’t torture her.” Rakan called out, no real weight to his request. Lux figured it went unheard by Xayah anyway. Her bird-like foot rose above her stomach. Lux shook her head, her plea on the tip of her tongue. It never came. Xayah’s foot twisted against her gut. Shoving the crimson feather deeper. 

Lux screamed.

***

Ezreal flew to his feet. Yuuto bounced from his body as though he hadn’t been asleep, and circled around the blonde boy with a victorious squee. His body flashed a cerulean blue, his yellow hair standing up like electricity shot through it. His Star Guardian form burned brighter more than ever before. 

His gauntlet shimmered, ready to take him to Lux and Poppy. Being the relay, he could accurately tell where both were, even if their gems had faded to near nothingness. In their state, he doubted any of the others could even _sense_ where they were.

And there was less of a chance, considering that they couldn’t even _sense_ the Darkened.

He stopped casting. Realization washing over him. He knew he couldn’t risk Xayah and Rakan recognizing him. They’d attack Kassadin’s shop. 

An idea flashed through his mind. He rushed to his uncle's coat. The giant piece of clothing covered down to his ankles like a giant, leather poncho. He flicked the hood over his head, the material covering most of his head in darkness.

Cerulean eyes opened like the heart of a flame from under the shadow. The Star focus on his gauntlet blazed with golden energy that fell through the sleeve. 

He punched into the open air, leaving behind electric sparks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to my $5+ or more Patrons:  
> Ravenous  
> Miranek  
> Settingscarlett
> 
> Please, consider supporting me on Patreon!  
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	5. Star's Left Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ezreal plays the Hero...  
> Lux is strangely unaffected by her near-death experience...  
> A new, orange haired girl bumps in, and wants to play...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> I'd like to start by thanking SettingScarlett, who helped edit this chapter.

Lux’s ear piercing screams were silenced as Xayah left her torso, kneeling over the pinkette’s head. Rakan couldn’t watch, shaking his head to look away with a grimace. Xayah’s cruel streak had intensified with every battle since their ‘ _ resurrection’ _ .

Zoe was a cruel bi—

Blue and golden sparks flashed in the corner of his vision. Xayah flew from backwards with a shriek, slamming into the wooden floor in front of Rakan. The Emerald Guardian dropped to his knees. Lifting the back of her head, he began channelling emerald energy into her. Wisps of green light washed throughout her body. She relaxed into his hold, propping herself up with a slack expression. That quickly twisted into seething hate.

“Who the hell are you?” Her eyes flashed angrily toward the Pink Guardian. Rakan followed her gaze. 

A massive, brown coat covered a mysterious Stranger. A large hood hiding their head in the shadow of the fabric. Their fist fell down lazily to their side, supposedly where they punched  _ his Xayah! _

The Stranger stepped over the pinkette. In a blur of gold, their covered leg swiped out, kicking a church pew. It smashed into the other seats nearby, sending them through the air. Both Rakan and Xayah leapt back, avoiding the other long seats from crashing into them. Two of the church pews crashed across the floor, one of them stopping before the Azure Yordle. The other landed atop the pinkette, hiding her underneath.

The Stranger said nothing, and dropped their foot to the ground slowly, content with watching both Vastaya. 

Xayah growled and sped toward the Stranger. Her hand flung forward, daggers striking. They pierced empty space; the Stranger ducked beneath them, running toward her. Rakan used his  _ battle dance tether  _ to reach Xayah first. Rakan sidestepped her, fist flying out to meet the Stranger. The Stranger jumped, using Rakan’s outstretched arm as leverage, they leaped over both Vastaya in a graceful flip. Both Vastaya’s back to the Stranger.

Rakan brought up his shield, coating Xayah before himself, ready for—

The Stranger stood there. Waiting.

“What’s wrong? Too much of a coward to show your face?” Xayah taunted with a snarl, lifting a foot to rest against the side of her knee, and hiding a hand under her armpit. More daggers materialising into her hidden hand, while the other rested against her face.

She only posed to let Rakan know what strategy she had planned. Right now, she needed him to...

Rakan had to do his  _ best  _ to suppress the rising laughter in him. 

The Stranger slowly mirrored Xayah’s pose. Foot raised, their bulky hand hidden under their armpit, while the other hand flopped back and forth next to their head.

Xayah growled. Her hand flicked outward, sending daggers straight for the Stranger. They did a twirling sidestep, still waving their hand back and forth. Their other hand rose up, waving at both Darkened.

Xayah rushed forward, dagger after dagger all thrown directly for the Stranger. All missed. None of them even  _ grazed  _ his fluttering coat. Dozens of daggers continued to fly through the air. Rakan’s eyes briefly flashed in realization. The others she’d thrown, before the Stranger had shown up, all jiggled wherever they were embedded

_ Bladecaller. _

Rakan rushed behind his girlfriend. He snuck a look at the Stranger. Their hood faced him, tilting slightly.

Xayah grunted, opening her palm straight at the Stranger, crimson light shining out. The daggers responded, flying back out from their embedded places, and heading straight toward Xayah. 

The Stranger turned back at the last possible second, before a storm of daggers met them.

Rakan winced and closed his eyes, refusing to see a pin cushion of a body. Especially not one made of Xayah’s doing.

“What?!” Xayah yelled out, equal parts disbelief and fury.

Rakan opened his eyes and was shocked to find no corpse at all. The Stranger had simply vanished. Not even a torn bit of fabric in sight.

_ Snap. _

Rakan’s ears perked up, ignoring Xayah's unintelligible rambling. There was a sort of  _ jingling  _ sound in the air. But he had no idea what could’ve made that—

_ Snap— Creeaak _

Emerald eyes flashed open. He looked up as the creaking got louder. There was a swinging chandelier.

“Xayah!”

Rakan moved before he could think. He tackled the woman, taking the full force of a giant, glass chandelier. He cried out as dozens of sharp pieces of glass lacerated his skin. Thankfully, the chandelier hadn’t crushed him, instead rolling off to the Church entrance.

He rolled onto his stomach. Sick erupted into his mouth. He forced it down with a grimacing gulp.

“Rakan!” 

Xayah rushed to his side, throwing the shattered remains of the chandelier off and dragging him to his feet. Rakan grunted, taking Xayah’s hand, his eyes never leaving the Stranger. The last of his emerald energy flickered away, only able to heal so much of the damage he suffered. Each of them stood still, Rakan’s laboured breath echoed throughout the church. The Stranger had remained absolutely still. Rakan’s brows curled, his breath softened as Xayah’s back pressed into him.

_ ‘I don’t get it. They haven’t made an actual magical attack,’  _ Rakan’s emerald eyes flashed orange briefly. He could feel Xayah’s body shiver. Her feathers ruffled against him. She was scared. His teeth ground together,  _ ‘What are they waiting for?’ _

Rakan snarled, throwing out Riku to slam into the Stranger. With a shimmer of golden magic, the Stranger’s hand fell on the flat of Riku’s back, stealing him from the air. The hooded Stranger swept their gaze to Xayah. She had flown halfway to the balcony, daggers flashing in her hand. The Stranger _hurled_ Riku straight at her.

Xayah was knocked out of the air with a startled cry. The Stranger leapt up to meet her halfway, fist raised. Rakan surged forward to tether another  _ battle dance _ to Xayah. She winked. Rakan let his emerald magic cease, and used the initial cast of  _ grand entrance  _ to pull her into him.

Rakan clasped the back of his hand, Xayah’s foot dropped onto it. He propelled her into the air, daggers whistled straight at the Stranger. Their body sparked gold as they dropped down, their fist still outstretched. Xayah twirled around him, as Rakan’s own fist struck out, emerald magic shimmered against cerulean.

The Stranger held their position, wood crunching beneath them as fist shook against fist. 

The Stranger’s sleeve blew back from the striking magic, revealing a gauntlet adorned with a cerulean, four pointed gem. Both held their fists together a while longer, strength slackened in their arms. Rakan couldn’t see under that hood. He leaned in closer to glare into that shadow. 

Seemingly in perfect synchronization, both of them pushed into their fists, shoving each other backwards. 

Xayah stood next to him, ready to fight once again. Her ragged pants had Rakan’s heart twinge. She was in pain. Exhausted. He couldn’t do anything about it, Riku hadn’t been able to _touch_ the stranger, and Rakan couldn’t heal her with his _drain conversion_ spell.

The Stranger stood straight. They rolled up their left sleeve slowly, showing off their gauntlet in full. Rakan wasn’t sure why they were revealing it. Maybe they didn’t care.

Or maybe they planned on fighting the Darkened  _ for real. _

Blue and golden electricity crackled around the Stranger. They grew in speed and intensity, until that power was  _ shining _ . They gathered around the gauntlet, the star crystal at its centre glowed with untapped power.

The Stranger lifted the gauntlet, aimed straight at Xayah. Rakan pulled her back, standing in front of her; he didn’t have much magic left for defense, but he could take a hit for her—

The gauntlet flung up, a beam of pure white energy blasting through the roof, exploding in the open air like a firework.

Blue and gold light spread overhead, bright enough that it illuminated the outside forest. No doubt the other Star Guardian’s would’ve seen it. Rakan’s fist shook underneath—  _ they’d been had _ .

“You little shit!” Xayah screamed out, rushing toward the cloaked Stranger. Rakan grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back. 

“We have to leave,” Rakan hissed, “They would’ve seen that!”

“Let me get  _ one  _ hit on him! Then we can—”

Rakan gasped as a small hand fell on his shoulder, pulling him, and by extension, Xayah, backwards.

***

Ezreal blinked owlishly as the Darkened disappeared into a purple portal. He didn’t see  _ who  _ exactly cast it, but it was jarring to see teleportation happen from the outside.

_ ‘Maybe Rakan did. He was trying to get Xayah out of here.’  _ Ezreal nodded to himself. He surveyed the broken church around him slowly, keeping an ear out for anything that could attack. He’d do the same, just to get the drop on someone when they think they’re safe. He felt bad about dropping a chandelier on Rakan. He’d meant for it to smash Xayah, she was the one throwing the knives.

A gurgling breath had him freeze. 

Poppy’s hand gripped the church pew, struggling to stand up. Her eyes locked onto him. She growled, stumbling towards him with a raised fist. She fell forward with a groan, caught in Ezreal’s arms. He slung her over his shoulders, and could hear her mumbling about how she was going to kick his ass, but all she was doing was thumping his back softly. 

_ ‘For someone so small, you sure as hell are heavy.’  _ Ezreal inwardly chuckled.

He kicked over the seat covering Lux. Ezreal winced at the amount of blood spilling from her head and stomach. The dagger had been removed, likely from whatever recall ability Xayah used earlier. 

‘ _ She’ll be fine. She’s still in uniform, and breathing. Healing magic will work the rest out.’  _ Ezreal nodded. He got to one knee and picked her up, straining slightly under the weight on both his shoulders. 

Kicking open the rusted doors of the church, he set them down on the pavement. Grass poked through the cracks in the cement, and dirt rolled about in the wind. Poppy was still glaring at him through hooded eyes, going on about her foot going up his ass. He smiled, knowing they’d both be fine.

_ ‘The others are getting closer. Janna and Soraka would heal these two.’  _

He entered the church and closed the door behind him.

***

Lux groaned awake as ambient, violet energy washed over her. Her body felt light. Like it was floating. She peeked her eyes open, finding the passive face of Janna. The Violet Guardian was kneeling, running gloved hands over Lux’s body. It was like a warm summer breeze on her skin, and Lux could  _ feel  _ her wounds closing up.

“ _ Nnn… _ ” Lux rested her palm against her head, which throbbed with a dull ache. Being thrown into a pillar would do that.

“You had us worried, Lux.” Janna softly spoke, a small smile on the corner of her lips. She tilted her head slightly, “Can you hear me?”

Lux nodded slowly.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” She held up her hand, holding all of her fingers up.

“Five.”

“Technically four, and a thumb,” Janna laughed airily. Lux gave a light chuckle, smiling at Janna’s ridiculousness. Her brows furrowed, pink eyes looking to the corner of her vision.

Soraka was leaning over Poppy, asking the Yordle her own questions. It was a standard healing procedure, and it wasn’t as though these were the first major injuries both suffered. The Voidlings weren’t as ruthless or precise as the Darkened were, but mistakes were made in their patrols.

“I’m glad you guys got to us in time,” Lux sat up, with Janna helping her up. She clenched her eyes shut as dizziness washed over her, “Did you manage to beat them?” Lux asked, opening her eyes with a wince. She found the other Star Guardians, most with their weapons drawn and surrounding both herself and Poppy. 

Lux turned to Janna, who’d been silent for too long. Janna was looking at her strangely. She opened her mouth, but was interrupted by Ahri.

“They weren’t around when we got here.” The kitsune said, facing away from Lux, her tone strange and flat.

“Then what happened?” Lux tried to stand, but was ushered down by Janna, who gave her the ‘ _ raised brow of disappointment’  _ that was usually reserved for Jinx. Lux looked away with a small flush and remained seated.

“I assumed they left you out as a warning.” Ahri sighed as she turned around. A flash of red dripped from the fox’s hand, nails digging into her palm. Lux winced at the sight, uncomfortable with the sight of other people's blood.

“No. Someone saved us.” Poppy growled out as she stood. She ignored Soraka’s urging to stay seated, which resulted in Soraka yanking the Yordle by the wrist and  _ forcing  _ her to sit in her lap. Poppy grumbled, struggling to get out of the Satyr’s grasp, but ultimately leaned into her warm embrace with a sour expression. 

“Who was it?” Ahri rushed out, her body snapping toward the Yordle, striding over to where she was seated. 

“ _ Ahri.”  _ Soraka glared at the kitsune, her tone icy and warning. The kitsune froze, sighing softly as her fingers loosened and shoulders relaxed.    


“Dunno. They wore a hood. Couldn’t see ‘em too well.” Poppy’s gaze wandered to the church beside them, “They used magic, but I couldn’t see what kind.”

“Where’d they go?” Ahri pressed, earning another glare from Soraka.

“In there.” Poppy gestured to the church with a quick tilt of her head. Ahri straightened up, putting on her  _ ‘leader face’.  _ Lux was familiar with it, and gave her own  _ ‘leader face’  _ sometimes, usually reserved for Jinx.   


“Fortune, Neeko and Syndra, go check the church.” 

“Sure.” 

“Okay!” 

“Hm.”

One after the other, they went into the decrepit building. Lux frowned at Poppy’s words. 

“Did they use magic?” Lux called over to Poppy, who’d resumed her struggle out of Soraka’s grasp, still failing. Poppy rolled her eyes and gave up again, giving Lux a deadpan stare.

“There was a chair in front of me. I could only hear the chick getting pissed off.” 

“Sounds like Xayah,” Ahri chuckled, her eyes sadder than her smile.

Lulu rushed up to Lux, wrapping her tiny arms around her neck, “I’m glad your guardian angel came to save you!”

“Was that a pun?” Janna asked with a smirk, flashing a glance at the church.

“What was?” Lulu asked earnestly, letting the pinkette go, giving Janna a confused smile. Janna made to explain, but was cut off by the Church opening. Lulu hopped away from Lux, and ran toward Neeko, grabbing ahold of her hand.

“Don’t worry, the sunflower always faces the warmest colour!” The youngest Yordle happily giggled. Neeko gave her a funny look, which was then given to each Guardian around her. Everyone shrugged, not understanding what Lulu meant. Lux smiled fondly anyway. Lulu was special, and was usually right about whatever she was talking about. 

“Nobody there anymore, the place is wrecked though.” Sarah offered, with Syndra walking past all of them with the same unreadable expression.

Ahri nodded, “They’re safe now. That’s all that matters.”

“Can you stand?” Janna asked the pinkette. Lux nodded, taking a deep breath of the cold night air, letting her pink aura warm her up. Poppy was doing much of the same, her body shimmered with azure light, her uniform back on.

“We should’ve stuck together as a group. There’ve been no signs of Voidlings tonight, or last night,” Ahri muttered to herself, fingers stabbing into her palm again. Soraka took them both into her own, leaning forward with searching eyes. Ahri softened again, dropping her head down with a sigh, “We’ll discuss this tomorrow. At lunch.”

_ ‘I was hoping to attend a study group.’  _ Lux mentally growled. But nodded anyway.

“Sure.” She said with a big, not forced at all, smile.

“Good. Get some proper rest, and talk to Janna or Soraka about your experiences tonight. We don’t need stress or trauma to distract us.” Ahri’s eyes darkened for a moment, “Especially not against  _ them.” _

She took off, Soraka and Syndra not far behind. Neeko had given Jinx a hug, to which the explosives Guardian returned slowly, surprise on her face. 

“Neeko hopes to see Jinx tomorrow.” The lizard girl shyly poked Jinx’s shoulder, taking off with butterfly wings after Ahri. 

_ ‘Who saved us tonight?’  _ Lux hummed to herself, her hand falling to her stomach shakily. Recalling how the dagger  _ tore  _ her apart from the inside. It burnt like a frigid shard of ice, but the pain was white hot. Lux jumped slightly at Janna’s hand resting on her shoulder.

“Let’s go home.” The Violet Guardian urged.

Lux smiled tiredly, “Let’s.”

***

Ezreal’s door flew open, an angry Kitsune storming into the room, standing in front of a half-naked Ezreal.

“The relay spell was cut off a few times. Care to explain?”

“Hello to you too, Ahri.” Ezreal sarcastically responded, only a teal towel around his waist, showing off his toned chest. He glared at his leader for barging into his room without knocking. She’d only just arrived less than a minute ago, and was already invading his personal space. She hadn’t even taken off her uniform.

“Yes, hi, have you taken up bird watching in your past time?” She bit back with a fake smile, tilting her head to the side, “because it seems like there are two chickens you can’t take your eyes off.”

“What are you talking about?” Ezreal’s brow curled, his leg bouncing up and down.

“You went out and fought Rakan and Xayah.” She accused, dropping her expression to a scowl, “ _ after _ I told you not to.”

“I didn’t.” 

Ahri rose a brow, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking her hips. 

“How could I have fought them while keeping the relay up?” Ezreal asked, raising his own brow.

“You kept turning it off and on. I  _ felt it!” _ She hissed, taking a step toward him. Ezreal stood up, meeting her with his own step. 

“I felt Lux and Poppy in danger!” He growled, and Ahri’s expression turned  _ feral.  _ But Ezreal continued, “I wanted to teleport to them but…”   


“But  _ what,  _ you thought you could handle it on your own?”

“I didn’t! I just  _ couldn’t _ , okay!?” Ezreal’s chin dropped to his chest, his fingers clenched until his knuckles turned white, “I almost let them die because I was too scared.” 

Ahri froze, her furious look dropped to guilt and confusion.

“You really didn’t? But…” Ahri shook her head slowly, “No. What happened yesterday wasn’t a bad thing. You’re alright, and you’ll  _ be  _ safe here.”

“I know. I  _ did  _ stay here,” Ezreal sighed, sitting back down, “I just can’t get it out of my head. I  _ wanted  _ to save them. But I couldn’t.”

“It's good that you didn’t, and I’m  _ sorry  _ I thought you did. I just...” Ahri knelt in front of him, taking both his hands and rubbing them with her thumbs, “I’m glad you didn’t do anything reckless, and kept the relay running. Without you, we may not have found them in time.”

“Right…”

“Could you feel anyone else there?” Ahri asked, voice light and concern in her eyes. Ezreal nodded.

“That’s what stopped me. It’s like someone  _ appeared  _ out of nowhere. Like I can, but slower,” Ezreal’s frowned, “I hoped they were on our side, looks like I was right. I was still scared though, so I kept wanting to teleport there, but cancelled it at the last second.”

“You didn’t have to anyway, it seems. They saved Lux and Poppy. You don’t have to worry about the rest,” Ahri stood up, her brows curled in thought, “but if our mysterious ally can fight both Xayah and Rakan at the same time, then they’re dangerous.”

Ezreal hummed, and nodded with a small smile. Ahri gave a big sigh, standing up and letting her uniform fade away, her casual clothes from earlier returning.

“Go to bed. We have school tomorrow. Just because you can teleport, doesn’t mean you sleep in.” She made her way out, closing the door behind her.

“Okay,  _ mum… _ ” Ezreal mumbled, picking out his pyjama onesie.

***

Lux was glad she got more than six hours of sleep last night. She would have  _ killed  _ Jinx several times this morning if she didn't. Every morning they had to  _ drag  _ the crimsonette, kicking and screaming, to school.

Lux loved Jinx like she was family, she really did. Unfortunately, Jinx insisted on the role of the  _ bratty sister _ , which she played  _ well.  _ She also refused to set an alarm, and relied on her team to get her up. The crimsonette wouldn’t complain if they  _ didn’t. _

Earlier that morning, when her team arrived at the school entrance, Neeko latched onto the redhead like a snake. She’d never seen Jinx get flustered, but it was delightful to see it happen in front of  _ dozens  _ of people. Jinx hadn’t talked to her since then, too preoccupied by Neeko’s multitude of questions. Lux’s expression soured.

It wasn’t as though Lux  _ cared,  _ or anything. She could hang out with Neeko all she wanted. More time to herself. All alone. In an empty classroom.

“Lux.” 

Mostly empty, anyway. 

The pinkette broke from her thoughts, turning her head in her chin at the source. Syndra was standing at the side of her desk, her long purple nails tapping on the desk rhythmically. Lux sat back into her chair, giving the other team’s mysterious member a polite smile.

“Syndra?” 

The tapping ceased.

“I wanted to talk to you about Ezreal.” Syndra hummed, turning her gaze to Lux.

It took every ounce of Lux’s will to stop her from frowning.

“You see, I was curious about your relationship with him,” A well manicured hand came up to rest on Syndra’s chest. She regarded Lux with a humoured expression, “It’s left me concerned.”

_ ‘Stop talking about him, please.’  _ Lux gave the Purple Guardian her brightest smile, nodding along with Syndra’s words.

“He’d taken a liking to you when you both first met. I would like to know what he likes about you.” Syndra placed a hands behind her back, leaning forward a bit.

_ ‘Don’t talk about…’  _ Lux’s brain lagged a moment, ‘ _...what?’ _

“What?” Lux’s question fell out without her meaning to. Her hands felt frozen, and her pink eyes were wide. Syndra tilted her head slightly, giving her a strange smile.

“What exactly do you know about him?” Syndra asked, brushing past Lux’s question like she hadn’t heard the pinkette. 

“He wants to explore, he likes pizza and smoothies, and has the dumbest smile ever.” Lux growled that last part under her breath. 

Syndra laughed heartily, placing a hand on her chest, “Quite so! But we all have something unique about us, don’t we?”

“I guess?” Lux tilted her head slightly, “Where are you going with this?”

“I’m a curious thing by nature, dear. I’m not afraid to gain knowledge by any means,” Syndra smirked, running a finger along Lux’s desk around to the other side, “That said, I simply wanted to know what  _ you  _ knew about  _ my  _ teammate.”

_ ‘Someone sounds possessive.’  _ Lux followed Syndra’s finger around, her hands falling under her desk. Syndra paused, her smile dropping.

“Ahri told you not to date him, didn’t she?”

Lux did a double take, “Pardon?”

“She did then. I see,” Syndra hummed with a smirk, curling a manicured finger against her lower lip, “Funny.”

“What do you want, Syndra?” Lux tiredly asked, slouching over her desk, unable to keep her facade up. Syndra too dropped her smirk, looking down at Lux with a single, pitying eye.

“I  _ want  _ to know what he likes about you,” She repeated, “So far, all I see is someone who let's other people walk over them.”

Silence followed Syndra’s accusation. Lux grit her teeth, flashing a scowl at Syndra. The Purple Guardian continued to look at Lux with pity in her eye.

“I do not—” Lux made to stand, but was forcefully pushed down by Syndra’s dark magic. She gasped, the table and chair rattled at the action.

“ _ You do.”  _ Syndra leaned over the desk, glaring at the pinkette, “You let Ahri dictate what  _ you  _ do. You let Jinx get  _ away  _ with her antics. You can  _ barely  _ hold your team together. Aren’t you a leader?”

Lux blinked, eyes wide and mouth hung low. Her hands tightened against her school skirt, “I  _ am _ a leader…” She whispered, looking away from the Purple Guardian.

Syndra scoffed.

“ _ You _ are a  _ liar _ . You fake your emotions, and don’t apologise for your shitty attitude. Hell, are you even concerned about nearly _dying_? If that’s the kind of person you are, then keep on acting like it,” Syndra stood up straight, the same pitying eye trained on her, “but don’t expect anything to happen between yourself and  _ my  _ teammate.”

Syndra made her way to the door of the empty classroom, and paused as she swung the door open. She paused, looking over her shoulder.

“ _ Especially,  _ if you can’t even defend yourself from our enemies.” She slammed the door behind her.

Lux stared at the door with an empty expression, sniffling as tears escaped down her cheeks.

***

Ezreal hardly got a wink of sleep last night. The snarling faces of the Darkened, Rakan and Xayah, were stuck in his mind every time he closed his eyes. He yawned loudly as he strolled through the, mostly, empty hallways of the school.

He wished last night hadn’t happened. Rakan and Xayah looked so  _ scared.  _ Scared of him. Scared of someone who just wanted to be their friend.

_ ‘Why can’t we get along? What am I missing?’ _

The blonde couldn’t focus on classes. Rakan and Xayah were gnawing at his thoughts every minute of the day. He couldn’t understand them. What did they gain from killing other Star Guardians? 

He couldn’t keep teleporting to stop them from killing his friends. Ahri already suspected him of being ‘ _ the hooded stranger’ _ , but let it go when he played the  _ trauma  _ card. He couldn’t keep playing it like that. But he couldn’t risk the death of his allies.

He needed to find them again, but the only place he’d found them was at Kassadin’s smoothie bar. Would they come back? How often would they come? Would they even talk to him? What if they figured out who  _ he  _ was?

_ 'But if I do meet Xayah and Rakan at the smoothie place… Maybe I can spy on them. Find out where they’re hiding? It’d be a risk but—’ _

Ezreal rounded the corner and slammed into someone, falling to the floor with a grunt, hands slamming to the tiled floor with a loud  _ slap.  _ The person he knocked into wasn’t so fortunate, as all the thick textbooks they’d carried fell to the floor around them. 

Ezreal hopped to his feet, and looked to find a small woman, maybe a foot shorter than he was, sitting on the floor, rubbing the back of her head with a wince, a single blue eye open. She had a long mane of orange hair that must’ve gone past her hips. On her face was a pair of large, circular glasses, with thick lenses.

“Sorry, I haven’t been paying attention today. Here, let me help you.” Ezreal held out his hand. She looked at him with a scowl, which transformed into surprise. Ezreal did a double take as her other eye opened, revealing a pink iris, rather than blue.

_ ‘That’s a rare feature.’  _ Ezreal thought, still holding out his hand to the gobsmacked woman beneath him. She shook her head and took it. He lifted her up with ease, her body lighter than most. She looked away with a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks, holding her hands behind her back fidgeting her shoulders. 

“Th-thank you…” She quietly said as she nervously faced away. He could see her looking at him with the corner of her eyes, smiling lightly.

“Don’t thank me yet, gotta help you with these, right?” Ezreal smirked, picking up the thick textbooks one after the other. He stole a glance at their titles, and held back his surprise.

_ ‘They all relate to programming?’  _ He stood up, all the books in hand. He turned to the shorter girl, holding them out to her, who was still watching him with large eyes, and her arms behind her back. She wordlessly took them, letting them rest against her body and under her chin. 

“My name’s Ezreal. Pretty exotic, eh?” He flashed her a grin pointing a thumb at himself. The red on her cheeks deepened, and her breathing intensified. A few seconds passed, before the girl realized she had to respond.

“Y-yes… You are. I mean, not that you’re pretty,” She struggled, erratically looking from side to side, panic rising in her voice, “I mean, you  _ are _ exotic. No! I mean... um...”

“W-well I can see you’ve got a lot on your plate,” Ezreal politely smiled, doing his best to hide his own rising anxiety at the girl's  _ strange  _ attitude. He took a step back before turning, “I’ll just-”

The girl ran around him, the same flustered expression on her face, “Zoe!”

“Huh?” Ezreal blinked in surprise.

“M-my name is Z-Zoe.” She smiled widely, shaking on the spot, little rivulets of sweat running down her face.

_ ‘Is it really that hot? It’s Autumn...’  _ Ezreal smiled back kindly, not wanting the situation to become  _ more  _ awkward. The girl was  _ not  _ assisting in that matter, as she continued to stare at him with her wide, mismatched eyes.

“I-I like your hair.” She nodded once, then looked away, mumbling angrily to herself, then looked back to him, “I mean, I like your name- no, your face! No! I... uhhhhh...”

“What?” Ezreal had given up, dropping the smile with a blank expression.

“What?” Zoe repeated, her smile turning to pure panic, before looking away dejectedly. “I’m sorry, I don’t talk to people a lot...”

“Ohhh,” Ezreal understood now. All those books on programming, her nerdy attire and her nervous way of talking to new people, were probably the result of being a shut-in. She practically vibrated on the spot, looking between him and her books. Ezreal gave a warm nod. “There’s nothing wrong with that. If you’d like, we can hang out later. Introduce you to my friends?”

Zoe’s face blew up entirely red, eyes wide and rattling in their sockets, she turned around and began running, “I’m super sorry for bumping into you I’ma just leave kay  _ bye _ !”

Ezreal stood there, watching the girl round another corner. 

“What a strange girl.” He shrugged.

***

Rakan held an ice pack to his head, groaning at the searing headache. Turns out, having a  _ chandelier  _ drop on you  _ hurts like hell _ . What he wouldn’t give to have another one of those delicious smoothies.  _ Definitely  _ had to go back to that place. Maybe meet that blonde dude again.

At least all that glass didn’t cut his handsome face.

“I can’t  _ believe  _ she pulled us out of that fight. We had them!”

His headache however, was not assisted by Xayah’s rambling. The perks of being a Darkened were minimal, at best, but he liked that he didn’t need to sleep. He  _ could _ , but he didn’t dream of anything. He could spend a hundred percent of his time with Xayah.

The only downside to that, was that Xayah liked to be angry at things for hours at a time. 

“There’s always next time.” Rakan offered, rolling down onto the queen sized bed, staring up at the white ceiling above. He was kind of amazed at how fast Zoe managed to get them a two bedroom apartment. With seemingly no money.

He’d have to ask how she managed that one later. Xayah huffed, falling to the bed next Rakan with a pout.

“I don’t want it to be next time,” She whined, gently placing her head on his bare chest, giving it a small kiss, “That hooded  _ prick  _ deserves a dagger to the throat for mocking me last night.”

Rakan gave her a smirk, “And for almost dropping a chandelier on you?”

“That too,” her pout transformed into a sly smile. She rolled atop him, making him grunt at the sudden action. She licked her lips, leaning over him “Speaking of which…”   


“Oh?” Rakan raised an eyebrow, his smirk deepening.

“I never…  _ thanked  _ you for that.” She husked, leaning down further—   


_ KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  _

Xayah’s smile dropped, a deadpan expression washing over instead. Rakan also adopted the same look, both of them eying the door. School must have finished, which meant Zoe was back from her undercover role. 

Rakan slowly rose up to whisper in her ear, “If we’re quiet, maybe she’ll go—”

_ KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK— _

Xayah threw her head back exasperatedly. She rolled off Rakan, who groaned as his head bounced against the pillow under him. He watched as Xayah stormed toward the white wooden door and nearly tore it from its hinges.

“What?” Xayah growled, leaning over the red haired girl on the other side. Zoe smiled innocently, rushing past the Crimson Guardian with a nervous, yet excited, giggle.

“Rakan, you know people, yeah?” Zoe huffed as she reached the bed, pushing her hands into it and bouncing up and down.

“Uh, yeah? But, I thought we had a rule about  _ closed doors. _ ” Rakan nodded to the door, which had a steaming Xayah pointing  _ out  _ of the room.

“Yeah yeah, whatever, listen, do you know who  _ this  _ is?” Zoe brought a piece of paper, seemingly out of  _ nowhere,  _ and thrust it at his face. Rakan blinked and took it from her hands. 

It was a crudely drawn stick figure of someone with pointy, blue and yellow hair.

Xayah scoffed, “What’s the chances of him knowing who you’re talking about? We’ve only been here for  _ two—” _

“Oh, that’s Ezreal.” Rakan nodded, giving the paper back to the midget girl. Xayah squinted at him.

“Seriously?” Xayah deadpanned, walking over to sit at the foot of the bed, “We happen to meet some guy that  _ she’s  _ all excited about. In.  _ Two. Days.” _

“Crazier things have happened,” Rakan shrugged, wincing at how his head was forcefully bounced at Zoe’s bouncing, “Uh, Zoe?”   


“Yee?” She smiled at him, her eyes wide and head tilted to the side, her pink iris flashing with light, her orange pupil glowing.

“You wanna leave us be for a bit?” Rakan gestured to Xayah, who was tapping her bicep with a slight frown. Zoe stopped bouncing, slowly turning to face him.

“Only if you promise to take me to meet him again,” Zoe whispered, staring into Rakan’s eyes, unblinking. Xayah took a sharp breath, and Rakan stopped breathing altogether.

Zoe licked her lips slowly. Purple energy crackled around her, shifting her orange hair to a deep purple. Her lips turned to a royal purple. She giggled softly into the paper, marking the stick figures face with her thin, purple lips.

_ “I want him.” _

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt as though I paced this one quite strangely, and probably could have   
> benefitted from slowing it down in a few places.
> 
> Please let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Fluff? On this sinful account?
> 
> Never.


End file.
